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SOUTH AFRICA 




GATEWAY OF THE CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE. 



THE STORY OF THE NATIONS 



SOUTH AFRICA 

(THE CAPE COLONY, NATAL, ORANGE FREE STATE 

SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, RHODESIA 

AND ALL OTHER TERRITORIES 

SOUTH OF THE ZAMBESI) 



GEORGE M'CALL THEAL, D.Lit., LL.D. 



NEW YORK 

G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS 

LONDON : T. FISHER UNWIN 
1900 






0° 



^ ,.<= 



PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION. 



The chapters in this volume upon the Cape 
Colony before 1848, Natal before 1845, and the 
Orange Free State, South African Republic, Zulu- 
land, and Basutoland before 1872, contain an outline 
of my History of South Africa, which has been 
published in England in five octavo volumes. In 
that work my authorities are given, so they need 
not be repeated here. The remaining chapters have 
been written merely from general acquaintance with 
South African affairs acquired during many years' 
residence in the country, and have not the same 
claim to be regarded as absolutely correct, though 
I have endeavoured to make them reliable. In 
preparing the book I was guided by the principle 
that truth should be told, regardless of nationalities 
or parties, and I strove to the utmost to avoid 
anything like favour or prejudice. 

The above was the preface to the first edition of 
this book, which was published in September, 1893. 
As successive editions appeared the volume was 
enlarged, and now it has been my task to add 
the saddest chapter of the whole, the one in which 
is recorded the beginning of a war whose results 



IV PREFACE. 

no man can foresee. That Great Britain with her 
enormous resources must conquer is obvious ; but 
what then ? Only when the last shot has been 
fired will real difficulties commence. 

The Dutch-speaking people of South Africa have 
increased from 30,000 according to the census, or 
possibly 40,000, in 1806, to 400,000 in 1899. The 
military strength of the northern republic is now 
more than double what it was in 188 r. This rate 
of increase may not be so large in the future, but 
it is reasonable to suppose that it will not be much 
less. I have shown how these people, or rather those 
of them who reside in the republics, came to be 
attached to independence as to life itself ; what force 
then will be needed to keep them in subjection if 
they are made British subjects ? It is altogether 
fallacious to suppose that English families will ever 
settle there permanently in sufficient numbers to 
keep the earlier inhabitants in check. They are 
miners and traders and professional men who come 
and go ; the Dutch are fixtures on the soil. 

If, on the other hand, independence is conceded, 
it will have to be full and complete to create any- 
thing like real friendship ; and if that is to be the 
result, for what purpose is this outlay of blood and 
treasure ? Complete independence for the South 
African Republic would mean a government like 
the present, and the Englishmen are few who would 
consent to perform burgher duties in return for 
burgher rights. To preserve order among the Bantu 
the Dutch would not maintain a standing paid 
military force, to which they have a deeply rooted 



PREFACE. ' V 

objection ; hence the old dissension would appear 
again in tenfold intensity. 

That a way may be found out of the difficulty and 
permanent harmony between the present combatants 
be restored is therefore at this anxious time the 
hope rather than the expectation of the author of 
this volume. 

^ GEO. M. THEAL. 

London, 3 November^ 1899. 




PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION. 



In the second and third editions of this work a 
supplementary chapter was inserted, in which were 
recorded the chief events that occurred from Sep- 
tember, 1893, to the dates of issue. As another 
addition of the kind would tend to confuse the 
reader, I have rewritten the last five chapters, en- 
larged them to a considerable extent, and brought 
the history without a break down to the present 
month. 

GEO. M. THEAL. 
February f 1897. 




CONTENTS. 



I. 

Ancient Inhabitants of South Africa 

Hottentots — Bantu — Constant warfare. 



1-7 



II. 

Discovery of the South African Coast by the 

Portuguese 8-16 

Discoveries of the Portuguese — First ships in Table Bay — 
Portuguese maps. 

III. 

Events that led to the Occupation of Table 

Valley by the Dutch East India Company 17-24 

Rise of the Dutch Republic — The Dutch East India Com- 
pany — The Eastern trade route — Wreck of the Haarlc7n — 
Advantages of Table Valley — Loss of life by scurvy — Mr. 
Van Riebeek. 

IV. 

Formation of a Refreshment Station in Table 
Valley by the Dutch East India Com- 
pany 25-31 

Trade with Hottentots — The first cattle raid — Extension to 
Rondebosch. 



CONTENTS. 

V. 



PAGE 



Foundation of the Cape Colony , . . 32-44 

Introduction of slaves — Introduction of Asiatics — The first 
Hottentot war — The first Church — Purchase of territory. 



VI. 

The Second HoiTENTOr War and its Conse- 
quences 45-59 

Origin of the cattle farmers — Extension of the settlement — 
Arrival of Huguenots — Form of government — System of 
taxation — Exploration. 

VII. 

Progress of the Cape Colony from 1700 to 

1750 ....... 60-79 

Life of the early settlers — Wilhem Adrian van der Stel — First 
outbreak of small-pox — System o. Administration — Effort to 
improve TaW Bay — Growth oi the settlement. 

VHI. 

Course of Events in the Cape Colony from 

1750 TO 1785 8o-9S 

Second outbreak of small -pox — Exploration of Namaqua- 
land — Villages in the colony — Tour of Governor Van Plet- 
tenberg — First Kaffir war — Arrival of French troops — Com- 
plaints of the colonists — Agitation in the colony. 

IX. 

The End of the East India Company's Rule in 

South Africa .... . 96-112 

Reckless expenditure — Second Kaffir war — Churches in the 



CONTENTS. XI 

PAOfi 



colony — Affairs in Europe — Arrival of a British force — 
Fruitless negotiations — Feeble defence of the colony — Re- 
view of the Company's rule. 



X. 

The First British Occupation • . .112-128 

Character of the colonists — First days of British rule — Sur- 
render of a Dutch fleet — Insurrection of Graaff-Reinet — The 
third Kaffir war. 

XI. 

The Colony under the Batavian Republic 129-137 

Dealings with Kosa chiefs — Attack by the English — Capitu- 
lation of Capetown — Departure of General J anssens. 



XII. 



Early Years of English Rule in South 

Africa 138-147 

Powers of the governor — Condition of the Hottentots — 
Fourth Kaffir war — Establishment of a circuit court — Ces- 
sion of the colony. 

XIII. 

The Administration of Lord Charles Somer- 
set . 148-161 

Slachter's Nek rebellion — Fifth Kaffir war — Arrival of British 
settlers — Success of the British settlers- Signs of progress — 
Resignation of the governor. 



Xll CONTENTS, 

XIV. 



PAGB 



The Wars and Devastations of Tshaka . 162-174 

Genius of Tshaka — The Mantati horde — Murder of Tshaka 
— Rise of the Matabele power — Genius of Moshesh — Con- 
dition of the tribes in 1836. 



XV. 

Events in the Cape Colony from 1826 to 

1835 175-194 

Injudicious measures — The Kat river settlement — Condition 
of the slaves — Emancipation of the slaves — Effects of the 
emancipation — Treaty with Waterboer — Sixth Kaffir war — 
The province of Queen Adelaide — Action of earl Glenelg. 

XVI. 

Great Emigration from the Cape Colony. Ex- 
pulsion OF Moselekatse from the Terri- 
tory South of the Limpopo . . . 195-2 

Fate of the first party — Attack by the Matabele — The first 
constitution — Defeat of the Matabele. 

XVII. 

Destruction of the Zulu Power and Founda- 
tion OF the Republic of Natal . . 204-218 

Natal and Zululand in 1837 — Arrangement with Dingan — 
Massacre of emigrants — Desperate fighting — Invasion of 
Zululand — Death of Pieter Uys — Destruction of the Natal 
Army — Arrival of Andries Pretorius — Defeat of a Zulu 
army — Revolt of Panda — Destruction of the Zulu power — 
Final defeat of Dingan. 



CONTENTS. XIU 

XVIII. 

I'AGE 

Seizure of Natal by British Forces. Creation 
OF Treaty States along the FrcIntier of 
THE Cape Colony 219-231 

Conduct 01 the Natal government — Siege of the British 
Camp— Relief of the British Camp— Project of treaty states 
— The Griquas— Effects of the treaties. 

XIX. 

Events to the Close of the Seventh Kaffir 

War . 232-243 

Expedition to aid Adam Kok — Arrangement with Adam 
Kok — Marks of progress — Seventh Kaffir war — Course of 
the war — Results of the war. 

XX. 

Events during the Administration of Sir 

, Harry Smith 244-25;: 

End of the treaty states — Battle of Boomplaats — Anti-con- 
vict agitation — Eighth Kaffir war — Settlement of British 
Kaffraria. 

XXI. 

Acknowledgment by Great Britain of the In- 
dependence OF THE South African Re- 
public, AND Abandonment of the Orange 
River Sovereignty 258-270 

First Basuto war — The Sand River convention — Condition 
of the Basuto tribe — Battle of Berea — Wise action of 
Moshesh— Arrival of Sir George Clerk — Abandonment of the 
Sovereignty — South Africa after 1854. 



XIV CONTENTS. 

XXII. 

PACE 

The Constitution of Cape Colony . . 271-276 

The Cape parliament — The Dutch language. 

XXTII. 

The Province of British Kaffraria . . 277-289 

Policy of Sir George Grey — Self-destruction of the Kosas — 
Annexation to the Cape Colony. 

XXIV. 

The Colony of Natal and the Dependency of 

zululand 290-312 

Influx of Bantu — The Hlubi tribe — Rebellion of Langali- 
balele — Importation of Indians — Mode of life of Europeans 
— Constitution of Natal — Cetewayo — Isandlwana — Invasion 
of Zululand— Battle of Ulundi. 

XXV. 
The Orange Free State and Basutoland . 313-331 

Presidents Hoffman and Boshof — Second Basuto war — Con- 
duct of Moshesh — President Brand and Moshesh — Discovery 
of Diamonds — Orange Free State and Basutoland — President 
Brand's visit to England — Basutoland. 

XXVI. 
The South African Republic . . . 332-352 

Lawlessness — Dr. Livingstone — War with the Baramapu- 
lana — President Burgers— Rebellion of the Bapedi — British 
rule— Struggle for independence — British disasters— Rich 
goldfields — Railways. 



CONTENTS, XV 

XXVIL 

PAGE. 

Rhodesia , . 356-376 

Occupation of the territory— War with the Matabele — Rapid 
progress — Native insurrection. 

XXVIII. 

The Portuguese Possessions .... 377-390 

Formation of trading stations — Attempted conquests — Mis- 
sions — Native wars — Present condition. 

XXIX. 

The British Protectorate. The German Pro- 
tectorate. Walfish Bay and the Guano 
Islands . , . . ... 39i'"399 

XXX. 

The Territory between the Kei River and 

'Natal 400-414 

Description — Reasons for annexation to the Cape Colony — 
Ninth Kaffir war — Rapid increase of population. 

XXXI. 

The Present Condition of the Cape Colony 415-429 

Industries — Annexation of British Bechuanaland — Exports — 
Population — Recent improvements. 

Chronological Table of Events . . -431 
Supplementary Chapter . . . . -435 
Index 445 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA, 1 893 . . . Facing I 

GATEWAY OF THE CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE . Frontispiece 

SOUTH AFRICA AS OCCUPIED BY BUSHMEN, HOTTEN- 
TOTS, AND BANTU IN 1650 7 

CROSS ERECTED BY DIAS ON PEDESTAL POINT . . 9 

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE II 

PORTRAIT OF A BUSHMAN 1 6 

TABLE MOUNTAIN AS SEEN FROM ROBBEN ISLAND . 24 

PLAN OF THE CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE . . . . 41 

EXTENT OF THE SETTLEMENT IN IJOO ... 58 

SOUTH AFRICAN TENT WAGGON 62 

HOUSE ON W. A. VAN DER STEL'S ESTATE ... 66 

EXTENT OF THE CAPE COLONY IN 1750 . . . 78 

THE OLD BURGHER WATCH-HOUSE, CAPETOWN . . 84 

CHURCH OF LAST CENTURY IN CAPETOWN . . . I02 

SIMONSTOWN IN 1795 I06 

SOUTH AFRICAN FARMHOUSE OF THE BETTER CLASS 

IN 1795 114 

EXTENT OF TERRITORY UNDER EUROPEAN RULE IN 

1800 . . 127 

VIEW^ IN THE KOWIE VALLEY, BELOW GRAHAMSTOWN 144 

FORT WTLLSHIRE. BUILT, 1 820 ; ABANDONED.. 1837 . 1 54 

A ZULU WARRIOR IN UNIFORM ..... 163 

PORTRAIT OF DINGAN ..... , 168 

xvii 



XVlll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

THABA BOSIGO ......... 172 

PORTRAIT OF HINTSA -...,.. 190 

UMKUNGUNHLOVU 2o6 

SCENE IN PONDOLAND 226 

GRIQUA MAN AND WOMEN 229 

SCENE IN MONTAGU PASS 238 

PORTRAIT OF SIR HARRY SMITH ..... 245 
EXTENT OF TERRITORY UNDER EUROPEAN RULE IN 

1850 256 

THE GIANT'S CUP, AS SEEN FROM THE SEAWARD SIDE 

OF THE DRAKENSBERG 264 

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CAPETOWN 273 

THE GREY HOSPITAL, KING- WILLIAMS TOWN . . . 278 

PORT NATAL AND DURBAN IN 1860 . . . 298 

SCENE IN ZULU LAND 3II 

PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT BRAND 319 

COMMON STYLE OF SOUTH AFRICAN FARMHOUSE . 329 
COMMON SOUTH AFRICAN BOULDER . . . . 4OI 
THE BOYS' SCHOOL, LOVEDALE MISSIONARY INSTITU- 
TION 424 

INNER DOCK, CAPETOWN 428 





EXPLANATION* OF TERMS. 



Explanation of words in common use in South Africa, but 
that may not be understood elsewhere, at least in the same 
sense : — 

Assaj^az, a javelin or dart used by the Hottentots and Bantu 
in war and the chase. The word is a corruption of the 
Portuguese " azagaya," which was derived from the Latin 
'"hasta." 

Boer^ Dutch for a tiller of the ground. The word is applied 
in this country to cattle-breeders as well as to agriculturists, 
and is frequently used in the plural form to signify the whole 
rural' population of European blood speaking the Dutch lan- 
guage. 

Burgher, a European male, no matter where resident, who 
is in possession of the franchise and liable to all public duties. 
It corresponds to the civis Romanus of old. 

Calabash, the hard rind of a gourd, used by the Bantu for 
various purposes, such as water-pots, jars, dishes, basins, snuff- 
boxes, &c. 

Commando, a body of burghers called out for military pur- 
poses. 

Heeinraden, burghers appointed by the government to act 
as assessors in the district courts of justice. A Dutch word. 

Induna, an o3icer of high rank under a Bantu chief. The 
word is Zulu. 

Kraal, a cattle-fold. The word is a corruption of the 
Portuguese "curral." It is also used to signify a collection of 

xix 



XX EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 

either Hottentot or Bantu huts, as these are usually built in a 
circle, within which the cattle are kept at night. 

Lager^ a Dutch word meaning an enclosure for protective 
purposes, such as a circular wall of stone, or a number of 
waggons lashed together. 

La7iddrost^ a stipendiary magistrate, who administers justice 
and receives the revenue of a district. The word is Dutch. 

Tsetse, a fly whose sting destroys domestic cattle, but has no 
effect upon wild animals. The word comes from one of the 
Bantu dialects. The tsetse disappears from a district when the 
game is exterminated or driven away. 

Volksraad, a Dutch word meaning the people's council, an 
elected legislative body. 




SOUTH AFRICA. 



THE STORY OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



I. 



ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



The aborigines of South Africa were savages 
of a very low type. They were pigmies in 
size, yellowish-brown in colour, hollow-backed, and 
with skins so loose that in times of famine their 
bodies were covered with wrinkles and flaps. On 
their heads were rows of little tufts of wiry hair 
hardly larger than peppercorns, and leaving the 
greater portion of the surface bald. Their faces 
were broad in a line with the e}'es, their cheeks 
were hollow, and they had flat noses, thick lips, 
and receding chins. They anointed their bodies 
with grease when any was obtainable, and then 
painted themselves with soot or coloured clay. The 
clothing of the males was the skin of an animal hung 
loosely over the shoulders, and often cast aside ; that 
of the females was little more than a small leathern 
apron. To the eye of a European no people in any 
part of the world were more unattractive. 



2 ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 

These savages were thinly scattered over every 
part of the country from a very remote period, for 
implements — such as arrow-heads and perforated 
stones similar to those which they had in use when 
white men first met them — have been found in posi- 
tions where the overlying materials must have been 
undisturbed for an incalculable time. The Bushmen 
— as the pigmies are termed by Europeans — had no 
domestic animal but the dog, and they made no effort 
to cultivate the soil. They lived by the chase and 
upon wild plants, honey, locusts, and carrion. 

They were without other government than parental, 
and even that was not respected after they were able 
to provide for themselves. So weak in frame as to 
be incapable of toil, they possessed great keenness of 
vision for detecting objects at a distance, and marvel- 
lous fleetness of foot and power of endurance in the 
chase. Their weapon of offence was a feeble bow, 
but the arrow-head was coated with poison so deadly 
that the slightest wound was mortal. 

In addition to the Bushmen there lived on South 
African soil, from a period long anterior to the arrival 
of Europeans, a body of people much more ad- 
vanced towards civilisation, the people now known 
as Hottentots. Where they came from, and how 
they got here, are questions that no one has yet 
been able to answer. Some have supposed that 
they sprang originally from a Bushman stock, others 
that the Bushmen were simply Hottentots who 
became degraded by the loss of their domestic cattle, 
but neither of these theories is now tenable. It has 
been ascertained that their languages are differently 



HOTTENTOTS, 3 

constructed, though both abound with clicks. The 
Bushman was a strict monogamist, the Hottentot 
customs admitted of polygamy. Then their skull 
measurements do not correspond. The head of the 
Hottentot is longer and narrower than that of the 
Bushman, and his face is more prognathous. The 
lower jaw of the Bushman is only surpassed in feeble- 
ness by that of the Australian black, while that of the 
Hottentot, though far from massive, is much better 
developed. The Bushman ear is without a lobe, 
which the Hottentot ear possesses, and the cranial 
capacity of the Hottentot is higher. 

On the other hand, against these differences several 
points of resemblance can be placed. The colour of 
the skin is the same, and the little balls of wiry hair 
with open spaces between them are in general 
common to both, though sometimes the head of a 
Hottentot is more thickly covered. The one has 
small hands and feet, and so has the other. Their 
power of imagination is similar, and differs greatly 
from that of other Africans. 

All this seems to point to the supposition that at 
a time now far in the past an intruding body of 
males of some unknown race took to themselves 
consorts of Bushman blood, and from the union 
sprang the Hottentot tribes of Southern Africa. 
There are other reasons for this conjecture, but they 
need not be given here. 

The Hottentots were never very numerous, and 
they occupied only the strip of land along the coast 
and the banks of the Orange river and some of its 
tributaries. There was a constant and deadly feud 



4 ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 

between them and the Bushmen. Only in one 
locality — along the banks of the lower Vaal — are 
they known to have mixed in blood with those 
people in modern times, and in that case the amal- 
gamation arose from wars in which the vanquished 
males were exterminated and the females were 
seized as spoil. 

They lived in communities under the government 
of chiefs, who, however, possessed very limited 
authority, for public opinion was freely expressed, 
and was the supreme law. They depended mainly 
upon the milk of cows and ewes for their subsistence, 
and did not practice agriculture in any form. Their 
horned cattle were gaunt and bony, and their sheep 
were covered with hair — not wool — and had fatty 
tails of great weight. Their only other domestic 
animal was the dog. The men lived in almost 
perfect indolence, moving with their herds and flocks 
from one place to another as pasture failed ; and 
when the supply of milk was insufficient it fell to 
the lot of the women to gather bulbs and roots with 
which to eke out an existence. The huts in which 
they slept were slender frames of wood covered with 
mats, and could be taken down and set up again 
almost as quickly as tents. 

These nearly naked people, living in idleness and 
filthiness indescribable, were yet capable of improve- 
ment. During the last century a vast amount of 
missionary labour has been ccucentrated upon the 
natives of South Africa, and though to the present 
day there is not a single instance of a Bushman of 
pure blood having permanently adopted European 



BANTU. 5 

habits, the Hottentots have done so to a considerable 
extent. They have not indeed shown a capacity to 
rise to the highest level of civilised life, but they have 
reached a stage much above that of barbarism. 

Before the arrival of Europeans yet another branch 
of the human family was beginning to press into 
South Africa. Tribes of stalwart people practising 
agriculture and metallurgy, under strict government 
and with an elaborate system of law, were moving 
down from the north, and by the middle of the 
seventeenth century had reached the upper tributaries 
of the Orange river and the mouth of the Kei. 

These people formed part of the great Bantu 
family, which occupies the whole of Central Africa 
from the Atlantic to the Indian ocean. They were 
certainly of mixed blood, and one branch of their 
ancestors must have been of a very much higher 
type than the other. This is shown in various ways. 
Among them at the present day are individuals with 
perfect Asiatic features, born of parents with the 
negro cast of countenance. In almost any little 
community may be found men only moderately 
brown in colour, while their nearest relatives are 
deep black. Here and there one may be seen with 
a thick full beard, though the great majority have 
almost hairless cheeks and chins. And a still 
stronger proof of a mixed ancestry of very unequal 
capability is afforded by the fact that most of these 
people seem unable to rise to the European level of 
civilisation, though not a few individuals have shown 
themselves possessed of mental power equal to that 
of white men. 



b ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA, 

These Bantu were of a healthy and vigorous stock 
and were probably the most prolific people on the 
face of the earth. The tribes were seldom at peace 
with each other, and great numbers of individuals 
perished yearly through charges of dealing in 
sorcery, but the losses thus sustained were made 
good by a custom which provided that every adult 
female should be married. There was no limit to 
the number of wives a man could have, and thus in 
a state of society where the females outnumbered 
the males, all were provided for. 

The three classes of people referred to in this 
chapter enjoyed the lives they were leading quite as 
much as Europeans do, though their pleasures were 
of a lower kind. Given freedom from disease and 
a slain antelope, and there could be no merrier 
creature than a Bushman. He was absolutely devoid 
of harassing cares. A Hottentot kraal in the clear 
moonlight of Africa, with men, women, and children 
dancing to the music of reeds, was a scene of the 
highest hilarity. The Bantu woman, tending her 
garden by day, and preparing food in the evening 
which she may not partake of herself until her 
husband and his friends have eaten, is regarded as 
an unhappy drudge by her European sister. In her 
own opinion her lot is far more enviable than that of 
the white woman, whom she regards as being always 
in a state of anxiety. 

The chief element of disturbance in their lives was 
war. The hand of the Bushman was always against 
every man, and every man's hand was against him. 
The Hottentot tribes were continually robbing each 



CONSTANT WARFARE. 7 

other of cattle and women, and on their eastern 
border were struggling in vain against the advanc- 
ing Bantu. Every Bantu clan was usually at feud 
with its nearest neighbours, whoever these might be. 
But life without excitement is insipid to the savage 



Wa///s^ Bay. 




S^//e/e/?aBayJ 



SOUTH AFRICA AS OCCUPIED BY BUSHMEN, HOTTENTOTS, AND BANTU IN 165O. 

Bushmen were the only inhabitants of the parts unmarked, and they lived also in all 
the rugged and mountainous sections of the parts occupied by Hottentots and 
Bantu. The territory in which the Hottentots roamed with their cattle is maiked 
/^ , and the territory occupied by the Bantu ^^0 



as well as to the civilised man, and these wars and 
animosities, though sometimes causing great suffering 
and loss of life, in general provided just that excite- 
ment which was needed to prevent the minds of the 
people from sinking into complete stagnation. 



II. 



DISCOVERY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAST BY THE 
PORTUGUESE. 



In i486 two little vessels, under command of an 
officer named Bartholomeu Dias, sailed from Portugal 
in search of an ocean road to India. Pushing his 
way down the western coast, Dias passed the farthest 
point previously known, and sailing onward with 
the land always in sight came to an inlet of no great 
depth with a group of islets at its entrance. There 
he cast anchor, and for the first time Christian men 
trod the soil of Africa south of the tropic. 

The inlet has ever since borne the name Angara 
Pequena, or Little Bay, which its discoverer gave to 
it. The surrounding country was a desolate waste 
of sand, and no signs of human life were seen, nor 
was other refreshment than seabirds' eggs obtainable. 
Having set up a cross as a mark of possession for his 
king, the Portuguese commander proceeded on his 
voyage. He tried to keep the land in sight, but 
when he was somewhere near the mouth of the 
Orange river a gale from the north sprang up, and 
for thirteen days he was driven helplessly before it. 



DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. g 

As soon as it abated the prows of the vessels were 
turned to the east, with a view of getting near the 
shore again, but after saihng a long time without 
reaching land Dias began to think that he must 
either have passed the end of the continent or have 
entered a great gulf like that of Guinea. 

He therefore changed the course to north, and 
after a while came in sight of the coast, which he 
found trending away to the east. The exact spot- 
where he made the land cannot be stated, but it was 




CROSS ERECTED BY DIAS ON PEDESTAL POINT. 

[From a Sketch by H. M. Piers.) 

one of the curves in the seaboard between Cape 
Agulhas and the Knysna. Large herds of cattle 
were seen, which the natives drove inland w^th haste, 
as they seemed in terror of the ships. It was not 
found possible to open intercourse with the wild 
people. 

Sailing again eastward Dias reached an islet where 
he found fresh w^ater and where he set up another 
cross. It was the islet in Algoa Bay which is still 



10 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 

called on that account Santa Cruz, or, as it is usually 
written in the French form, St. Croix. Here the 
sailors objected to proceed farther, and it was with 
difficulty that they were induced to press on a couple 
of days longer. At the mouth of a river — either the 
Kowie or the Fish — the expedition turned homeward, 
and on its way back discovered a bold headland 
which Dias named the Cape of Storms, but which 
.was renamed by King John the Second the Cape 
of Good Hope. As seen from the sea this cape is 
much more conspicuous than Agulhas, the true 
southern extremity of the continent. 

Ten years passed away after the return of Dias 
to Portugal before an expedition was fitted out to 
follow up the discovery he had made. Four small 
vessels were then made ready, and were placed under 
command of Vasco da Gama, a man of proved 
ability. 

It was not quite five years after Columbus sailed 
from Palos to discover a new continent in the west, 
when Da Gama's little fleet put to sea from the 
Tagus. Five months and a half later he reached a 
curve in the African coast about one hundred and 
twenty miles north of the Cape of Good Hope, to 
which he gave the name St. Helena Bay. Here he 
landed and by a little strategy managed to obtain 
an interview with a party of natives, whose friendship 
he tried to secure by making them presents of 
trinkets. All went well for a time, but at length a 
misunderstanding arose, which resulted in the Por- 
tuguese attacking the natives, and in a skirmish Da 
Gama himself and three others were wounded with 



12 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 

assagais. Such was the first intercourse between 
white men and Hottentots. 

On the 17th of November 1497 Da Gama set sail 
from St Helena Bay, and three days later doubled 
the Cape of Good Hope in fine weather. Turning 
eastward, he anchored next within a bend of the 
coast, which he named Agoada de S. Braz, the 
present Mossel Bay. There he found a number of 
natives similar in appearance to those he had first 
seen, but who showed so little symptom of alarm that 
they crowded on the beach and scrambled for any- 
thing that was thrown to them. From these people 
some sheep were obtained in barter, but they would 
not sell any horned cattle. 

Keeping within sight of the shore, on the 25th of 
December Da Gama passed by a beautiful land, to 
which he gave the name Natal, in memory of the day 
when Christian men first saw it. 

On the 6th of January 1498 the fleet reached the 
mouth of a river which enters the sea on the northern 
side of Delagoa Bay. Here the Portuguese landed, 
and found a friendly people, black in colour, who 
brought copper, ivory, and provisions for sale. During 
the five days that the fleet remained at this place 
nothing occurred to disturb the friendly intercourse 
between the Portuguese and the Bantu residents. 

Sailing again, Da Gama next touched at Quilimane, 
where he found people who had dealings with Arabs, 
and thence he continued his voyage until he reached 
India. 

The highway to the East being now open, every 
year fleets sailed to and from Portugal. In a short 



FIRST SHIPS IN TABLE BAY. I3 

time the Indian seas fell entirely under Portuguese 
dominion, and an immense trade was opened up. 

In 1503 a small fleet, under command of an officer 
named Antonio de Saldanha, put into a bay on the 
African coast that had never been entered before. 
On one side rose a great mass of rock, over three 
thousand feet in height, with its top making a level 
line more than a mile in length on the sky. This 
grand mountain was flanked at either end with peaks 
less lofty, supported by buttresses projecting towards 
the shore. The recess was a capacious valley, down 
the centre of which flowed a stream of clear sweet 
water. The valley seemed to be without people, but 
after a while some Hottentots made their appearance, 
from whom a cow and two sheep were purchased. 

Saldanha himself climbed to the top of the great 
flat rock, to which he gave the name Table Mountain 
The bay in which he anchored was thereafter called 
after him the watering place of Saldanha, until nearly 
a century later it received from the Dutch sea-captain 
Joris van Spilbergen its present name of Table Bay. 

No effort was made to explore the interior of the 
country, and, indeed, setting aside danger from the 
natives, it would have been beyond the power of any 
man to have gone far from the coast at this period. 
The land rises in a series of steps from the seashore 
to a great interior plain, and until that plain was 
reached the traveller would have had everywhere a 
rugged and seemingly impassable range of mountains 
before him. If by great exertion he had made his 
way to the summit of one, he would have found him- 
self on the edge of a broken plateau, with another 



14 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 

range — the front of another terrace — shutting in his 
view. It follows from this conformation of the country 
that there are no navigable rivers. The streams — 
even the very largest — are all of the nature of moun- 
tain torrents, obstructed with rapids and falls, and 
varying in volume with rain and drought. There is 
an utter absence of secure natural harbours on the 
coast, except in positions where they could be of little 
service in the early days of exploration. And, in 
addition to all this, a very large portion of the land 
along the western seaboard, as well as of the interior 
plains, is so arid that it could only be traversed by 
degrees, as its slender resources became known. 

In returning with the fleet which left India at the 
close of 1509, Francisco d'Almeida, first Portuguese 
viceroy of the eastern seas, put into Table Bay for the 
purpose of obtaining water and refreshing his people. 
Some natives appeared on the beach, and a party of 
ships' people went ashore to barter some cattle from 
them. Trafific was carried on for a time in a friendly 
manner, but at length a quarrel arose, and two white 
men were badly beaten. This caused an outcry for 
vengeance, to which D'Almeida unfortunately lent a 
willing ear. 

Next morning, ist of March 1 5 10, the viceroy 
landed with one hundred and fifty men armed with 
swords and lances. They marched to a kraal and 
seized some cattle, which they were driving away 
when the Hottentots, supposed to be about one 
hundred and seventy in number, attacked them. 
The weapons of the Portuguese were useless against 
the fleet-footed natives, who poured upon the invaders 



PORTUGUESE MAPS. I5 

a shower of missiles. A panic followed. Most fled 
towards the boats as the only means of safety ; a few, 
who ^^ere too proud to retreat before savages, at- 
tempted in vain to defend themselves. The viceroy 
was struck down with knobbed sticks and stabbed in 
the throat with an assagai. Sixty-five of the best 
men in the fleet perished on that disastrous day, and 
hardly any of those who reached the boats escaped 
without wounds. 

After this event the Portuguese avoided the southern 
coast as much as possible. With them the country 
had the reputation of being inhabited by the most 
ferocious of savages, and of furnishing nothing valu- 
able for trade. Their fleets doubled the continent 
year after year, but seldom touched at any port south 
of Sofala. They made a practice of calling for re- 
freshment at the island of St. Helena, which had been 
discovered in 1502, and then pressing on to Mozam- 
bique without a break, whenever it was possible to 
do so. They never attempted to form a station below 
Delagoa Bay. 

Now and again, however, their ships were driven 
by stress of weather to seek a port, and occasionally 
a wreck took place. Curiosity also prompted some 
of them, and orders from the king required others, to 
inspect the coast and make tracings of it. The prin- 
cipal bights and headlands thus acquired names. 
Nearly all of these have been replaced by others, 
Dutch or English, but a few remain to our day. 

With the belt of land bordering on the sea north 
of Zululand the Portuguese were well acquainted, 
and they had an intimate knowledge of the territory 



i6 



DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 



along the lov/er course of the Zambesi. But of the 
interior of the country south of the tropic they knew 
absolutely nothing, and what they imagined and laid 
down on their maps was so very incorrect that after 
the territory was explored the whole of their delinea- 
tions of Africa were regarded as valueless. 




PORTKAJr OF A BUSHMAN. 



III. 



EVENTS THAT LED TO THE OCCUPATION OF TABLE 
VALLEY BY THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY. 



After a long interval English, Dutch, and French 
ships followed the Portuguese to India. Drake and 
Candish passed in sight of the Cape of Good Hope 
when homeward bound on their celebrated voyages 
round the world, but did not land on the African 
coast. In July 1591 the English flag was seen there 
for the first time. Three ships — the pioneers of the 
vast fleets that have since followed the same course — 
then put into Table Bay on their way to India. Their 
crews, who were suffering from scurvy, obtained good 
refreshment, as in addition to wild fowl, shellfish, and 
plants of various kinds, they bartered some oxen and 
sheep from Hottentots. One of the ships, commanded 
by Captain James Lancaster, reached India in safety, 
another returned to England shorthanded from Table 
Bay, and the third went down in a gale at sea some- 
where off the southern coast. 

In 160 1 the first fleet fitted out by the English 
East India Company, under command of the same 
Captain James Lancaster mentioned above, put into 

3 ^^ 



1 8 RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. 

Table Bay on its outward passage. Thereafter for 
several years the fleets of this Company made Table 
Bay a port of call and refreshment, and their crews 
usually procured in barter from the natives as many 
cattle as they needed. 

During the closing years of the sixteenth century 
the people who were destined to form the first 
European settlement in South Africa were engaged 
in a gallant struggle for freedom against the powerful 
Spanish monarchy. The northern Netherland pro- 
vinces had entered the sisterhood of nations as a free 
republic which was rapidly becoming the foremost 
commercial power of the age. While the struggle 
was being carried on, Portugal came under the 
dominion of the king of Spain, and the Dutch were 
then excluded from Lisbon, where they had previously 
obtained such eastern products as they needed. Some 
of their adventurous merchants then thought of direct 
trade with India, but it was not until 1595 that a fleet 
under the republican flag passed the Cape of Good 
Hope. It consisted of four vessels, and was under 
an officer named Cornelis Houtman. This fleet 
touched at Mossel Bay, where refreshment was pro- 
cured, the intercourse between the strangers and the 
natives being friendly. 

After lloutman's return to Europe, several com- 
panies were formed in different towns of the Nether- 
lands, for the purpose of trading with the Indies. No 
fresh discoveries on the African coast were made by 
any of the fleets which they sent out, but to some of 
the bays new names were given. Thus Paul van 
Caerden, an officer in tjie service of the New Brabant 



THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY. I9 

Company, when returning to Europe in 1601, gave 
their present names to Mossel, Flesh, and Fish bays, 
all of which he entered. 

The fleets sent out by the different small companies 
gained surprising successes over the Portuguese in 
India, but as they did not act in concert no perma- 
nent conquests could be made. For this reason, as 
well as to prevent rivalry and to conduct the trade in 
a manner the most advantageous to the people of the 
whole republic, the states-general resolved to unite all 
the weak associations in one great company with 
many privileges and large powers. The charter was 
issued at the Hague on the 20th of March 1602, and 
gave the Company power to make treaties with Indian 
governments, to build fortresses, appoint civil and 
military officers, and enlist troops. The Company 
was subject to have its transactions reviewed by 
the states-general, otherwise it had almost sovereign 
power. The subscribed capital was rather over half a 
million pounds sterling. Offices for the transaction 
of business, or chambers as they were termed, were 
established at Am^sterdam, Middelburg, Delft, Rotter- 
dam, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen. 

The general control was confided to an assembly 
of seventeen directors, whose sessions were held at 
Amsterdam for six successive years, then at Middel- 
burg for two years, then at Amsterdam again for six 
years, and so on. 

The profits made by the Company during the early 
years of its existence were enormous. The Portuguese 
ships, factories, and possessions of all kinds in India 
were fair prize of war, and the most valuable were 



20 THE EASTERN TRADE ROUTE. 

shortly in the hands of the Dutch. Every year fleets 
of richly laden ships under the flag of the Nether- 
lands passed the Cape of Good Hope outward and 
homeward bound. 

In 1619 the directors of the English East India 
Company proposed to the assembly of seventeen that 
they should jointly build a fort and establish a place 
of refreshment somewhere on the South African 
coast. This proposal did not find favour in Holland, 
and each company then resolved to form a station of 
its own. Instructions were issued to the commanders 
of the next outward-bound fleets of both nations to 
examine the seaboard and report upon the most suit- 
able places for the purpose. Thus it happened that 
in 1620 two English captains, by name Fitzherbert 
and Shillinge, inspected Table Bay, and believing 
that no better place could be found, they proclaimed 
the adjoining country under the sovereignty of King 
James. They did not leave any force to keep posses- 
sion, however, and the directors in London having 
changed their views with regard to a station in South 
Africa, the proclamation of Fitzherbert and Shillinge 
was never ratified. English ships still continued oc- 
casionally to call for the purpose of taking in fresh 
water, but from this time onward the island of St. 
Helena became their usual place of refreshment. 

The assembly of seventeen also allowed its resolu- 
tion concerning the establishment of a station in 
South Africa to fall through at this time. Some of 
the advantages of such a station were already in its 
possession, and the expense of building a fort and 
maintaining a garrison might be too high a price to 



WRECK OF THE HAARLEM. 21 

pay for anything additional that could be had. Its 
fleets usually put into Table Bay for the purpose of 
taking in fresh water, giving the crews a run on land, 
catching fish, and getting the latest intelligence from 
the places they were bound to. Letters were buried 
on shore, and notices of the places where they were 
deposited were marked on conspicuous stones. • 

Table Valley was also sometimes occupied for 
months together by parties of Dutch seal hunters 
and whale fishers. Among others, in i6i i Isaac le 
Maire, after whom the straits of Le Maire are 
named, left his son with some seamen here for this 
purpose. 

Early in 1648 the Haarlem^ a ship belonging to the 
East India Company, put into Table Bay for refresh- 
ment, and in a gale was driven on the Blueberg 
beach. The crew got safely to land, and succeeded 
in saving their own effects and the cargo. When 
everything was secured against stormy weather they 
removed to Table Valley as a better place for an 
encampment, leaving only a guard with the stores. 
Beside a stream ot fresh water, somewhere near the 
centre of the present city of Capetown, they made 
themselves huts, and threw up an earthen bank for 
shelter around them. The rainy season was setting 
in, and as they happened to have various seeds with 
them they made a garden and soon had abundance 
of vegetables. They were fortunate also in being able 
to procure in barter from the natives more meat than 
they needed, so that their experience of South Africa 
led them to believe that it was a fruitful and pleasant 
land. After they had been here nearly six months a 



22 ADVANTAGES OF TABLE VALLEY. 

fleet returning home put in, and took then on to 
Europe. 

Upon their arrival in the Netherlands, Leendert 
Janssen and Nicholas Proot, two of the Haarkfjis 
officers, drew up and presented to the chamber of 
Amsterdam a document in which they set forth the 
advantages that they beh'eved the Company might 
derive from a station in Table Valley. This docu- 
ment was referred by the chamber of Amsterdam to 
the directors, who, after calling for the opinions of 
the other chambers and finding them favourable, in 
August 1650 resolved to form such a station as was 
proposed. A committee was instructed to draw up a 
plan, and when this was discussed and approved of, 
three vessels were made ready to bring the men and 
the materials to South Africa. 

The post of commander of the station about to be 
formed was offered to Nicholas Proot, and upon his 
declining it, a ship's surgeon named Jan van Riebeek, 
who had been for some time in the Company's service 
and had visited many countries, was selected for the 
office. A better selection could hardly have been 
made. Mr. Van Riebeek was not a man of high 
education or of refined manners, but he was indus- 
trious and possessed of good natural ability. He had 
been in Table Bay with the fleet in which the Haar- 
lems crew returned home, and upon the document 
drawn up by Janssen and Proot being submitted to 
him for an opinion, he endorsed all that was in it con- 
cerning the capabilities of the country. 

Things were not done in such haste in those days 
as they are now, and the year 165 1 had nearly come 



LOSS OF LIFE BY SCURVY. 23 

to an end before the three vessels set sail from Texel. 
It must not be supposed that they were bringing 
people to South Africa with the intention of founding 
a colony, for nothing was then further from the 
thoughts of the directors of the East India Company. 
Their object was merely to form a refreshment station 
for the fleets passing to and from the eastern seas. 

Six months was considered a quick passage between 
the ports of the Netherlands and the roads of Batavia, 
where their ultimate destination was made known to 
the skippers by the governor-general and council of 
India ; and it was no uncommon circumstance for 
one-third of the crews to have perished and another 
third to be helpless with scurvy when the ships 
arrived there. The loss of life was appalling, as the 
Indiamen were fighting as well as trading vessels, and 
usually left Europe with two or three hundred men. 
The crews were very largely composed of recruits 
from Germany and the maritime states of Europe, or 
the population of the Netherlands could not have 
borne such a tremendous drain of men for any length 
of time. 

Table Bay was regarded as two-thirds of the dis- 
tance from Amsterdam to Batavia, and the directors 
thought that by establishing a refreshment station 
on its shores many lives could be saved and much 
suffering be avoided. The design was first to make a 
large garden and raise in it vegetables for the supply 
of the fleets, secondly to barter oxen and sheep from 
the Hottentots for the same purpose, and thirdly to 
build a great hospital in which sick men could be left 
to recover their health. 



24 



MR. VAN RIEBEEK. 



Every man at the station was to be a servant of the 
East India Company. Mr. Van Riebeek, who had the 
title of commander, was to hold a position similar to 
that of a sergeant in charge of a small military out- 
post at some distance from the head-quarters of a 
regiment. Every admiral of a fleet that called was to 
supersede him for the time being, and he had hardly 
any discretionary power even when no superior officer 
was present. 




TABLE MOUNTAIN AS SEEN FROM ROBBEN ISLAND. 



IV. 



FORMATION OF A REFRESHMENT STATION IN 
TABLE VALLEY BY THE DUTCH EAST INDIA 
COMPANY. 



In April 1652 Mr. Van Riebeek and his people 
arrived, and at once set about the construction of a 
fort by raising banks of earth round a hollow square, 
within which they erected some wooden sheds brought 
from Holland. The rainy season at and near the 
Cape of Good Hope usually commences in the month 
of April, but this year the summer drought lasted 
until towards the close of May, and consequently 
there was a good deal of suffering among the people. 
Scurvy was showing itself and no sorrel or wild plants 
of any kind could be found, nor could a garden be 
made. 

The only permanent inhabitants of the Cape pen- 
insula when the Dutch landed were some sixty 
Hottentots, who were without cattle, and who lived 
chiefly upon shell-fish. Where as many thousands 
now exist in comfort, these wretched beachrangers — 
as Mr. Van Riebeek styled them — were barely able 
to exist at all. The chief man among them was 

25 



26 REFRESHMENT STATION IN TABLE VALLEY. 

named Harry by the white people. He had once 
been taken to Bantam in an EngHsh ship, and he 
spoke a little broken English, so Mr. Van Riebeek 
employed him as an interpreter. The others made 
themselves useful by carrying water and gathering 
firewood, in return for which they were provided with 
ships' provisions. 

Two large clans of Hottentots, consisting together 
of about five thousand souls, roamed over the country 
within a radius of fifty miles from Table Bay, but 
they were then far from the peninsula, and very 
little could be ascertained concerning them. 

When the winter rains at last set in, much dis- 
comfort was the immediate result. The tents and 
wooden buildings were all found to be leaky. With 
the change of weather came dysentery, which the 
people were too weak to resist, and now almost every 
day there was a death from that disease or from 
scurvy. By the beginning of June the party was 
reduced to one hundred and sixteen men and five 
women, of whom only sixty men w^ere able to per- 
form any labour. Fresh meat and vegetables and 
proper shelter would have saved them, but these 
things were not to be had. They were almost as 
solitary as if they had been frozen up in the Arctic 
sea. The two largest of the vessels had gone on to 
Batavia, leaving the other — a mere decked boat — at 
Mr. Van Riebeek's disposal, and for many weeks no 
natives were seen except Harry's miserable followers, 
from whom no assistance of any kind was to be 
obtained. 

But the rain, which had brought on the dysentery, 



TRADE WITH HOTTENTOTS. 27 

in a very short time brought also relief. Grass sprang 
into existence, and with it appeared various edible 
plants. They were all correctives of scurvy, and that 
was mainly what was needed. The strong and the 
feeble went about gathering wild herbs and roots and 
declarinof there was nothinsf in the world half so 
palatable. As soon as the first showers fell, a plot of 
ground was dug over, in which seeds were planted ; 
and soon the sick were enjoying such delicacies as 
radishes, lettuce, and cress. Then they found good 
reeds for thatch, and when the buildings were covered 
with these instead of boards and torn sails, they could 
almost bid defiance to the rains. 

The pleasant weather wliich in South Africa is 
termed the winter passed away, and in October a 
large Hottentot clan — called by the Dutch the Kaap- 
mans — made its appearance in the Cape peninsula 
with great herds of horned cattle and flocks of sheep 
which were brought there for change of pasture. 
These people and the Europeans met openly on the 
most friendly terms, though each party was so sus- 
picious of the other that a constant watch was kept. 
A supply of copper bars, brass wire, and tobacco had 
been brought from the Netherlands, and a trade in 
cattle was now opened. On the European side the 
commander conducted it in person, assisted only by 
a clerk and the interpreter Harry. All intercourse 
between other white men and these Hottentots was 
forbidden under very severe penalties, with the two- 
fold object of preventing any interference with the 
trade and any act that might lightly provoke a 
quarrel. 



28 REFRESHMENT STATION IN TABLE VALLEY. 

Parties of the Kaapmans remained in the Cape 
peninsula nearly three months, during which time 
Mr. Van Riebeek precured in barter over two hundred 
head of horned cattle and nearly six hundred sheep. 
Before they left, they proposed that the commander 
should help them against a tribe with whom they 
were at war, and offered him the whole of the spoil 
whatever it might be. Mr. Van Riebeek replied 
that he had come to trade in friendship with all, and 
he declined to take any part in their quarrels. 

By the end of the first year's residence of the 
Europeans in Table Valley the station had made very 
satisfactory progresSo A large garden had been 
planted, and the stream that ran down from the 
mountain had been dammed up in several places, so 
that the whole of the cultivated ground — several 
acres in extent — could be irrigated. A plain hospital 
had been built of earthen walls and thatch roof, large 
enough to accommodate two or three hundred men. 
And another clan had visited the peninsula, with 
whom a cattle trade had been opened, so that there 
was plenty of fresh meat for the crews of all the ships 
that put into the bay. 

The second winter was uneventful. Some building 
was carried on, oxen were trained to draw timber 
from the forests behind the Devil's peak, and much 
new ground was broken up. Wild animals gave more 
trouble than anything else. The lions were so bold 
that they invaded the cattle pens by night, though 
armed men were always watching them, and leopards 
came down from the mountain in broad daylight and 
carried away sheep under the very eyes of the herds- 



THE FIRST CATTLE RAID. 29 

men. One morning before daybreak there was a 
great noise in the poultry pens, and when the guards 
went to see what was the matter, they found that all 
the ducks and geese had been killed by wild cats. 
The country appeared to be swarming with ravenous 
beasts of different kinds. 

A good look-out was kept over the sea, for the 
Netherlands and the Commonwealth of England were 
at war, and it was necessary to guard against being 
surprised by an English ship. 

The Europeans had been living in Table Valley 
about eighteen months when the first difficulty with 
the natives occurred. One Sunday while they were 
listening to a sermon Harry and his people murdered 
a white boy who was tending the cattle, and ran away 
with nearly the whole herd. As soon as the event 
became known pursuing parties were sent out, but 
though the robbers were followed to the head of 
False Bay, only one cow that lagged behind was 
recovered. This occurrence naturally produced an 
ill-feeling towards the Hottentots on the part of the 
European soldiers and workmen. One of their com- 
panions had been murdered, and his blood was 
unavenged. The loss of their working oxen im- 
posed heavy toil upon them. The fort was being 
strengthened with palisades cut in the forests behind 
the Devil's peak, and these had now to be carried on 
the shoulders of men. Then for some time after the 
robbery the pastoral clans kept at a distance, so that 
no cattle were to be had in barter ; and the want of 
fresh meat caused much grumbling. 

The directors had given the most emphatic orders 



30 REFRESHMENT STATION IN TABLE VALLEY, 

that the natives were to be treated with all possible 
kindness, and so, after a few months, when the run- 
aways began to return to Table Valley, each one 
protesting- his own innocence, no punishment was 
inflicted upon them for their bad conduct, but they 
were allowed to resume their former manner of living 
by collecting firewood and doing any little service of 
that nature. 

As everything was now in good working order at 
the station, Mr. Van Riebeek began to send out 
small exploring parties, not so much to learn the 
physical condition of the country, however, as to 
make the acquaintance of Hottentot clans who could 
be induced to bring cattle to the fort for barter. This 
object was attained without crossing the nearest range 
of mountains, and therefore no one tried to go beyond 
that formidable barrier. During the next few years 
names were given to the various hills scattered over 
the western coast belt as far north as the mouth of 
the Elephant river, the Berg river was inspected from 
its source to its mouth, and acquaintance was made 
with several Hottentot tribes ; but there was little or 
no advance in the knowledge of South African geo- 
graphy. 

By this time nearly every garden plant of Europe 
and India was cultivated at the Cape, though potatoes 
and maize were not yet introduced. Oaks and firs, 
fruit trees of many kinds, several varieties of vines 
from Southern Germany and from France, and straw- 
berries and blackberries were thriving. The foreign 
animals that had been introduced were horses from Java, 
and pigs, sheep, dogs, rabbits, and poultry from Europe. 



EXTENSION TO RONDEBOSCH. 3 1 

Every season wheat and barley had been sown, but 
the crop had always failed. Just as it was getting 
ripe the south-east wind came sweeping through Table 
Valley, and destroyed it. But it was noticed that 
even when it was blowing a perfect gale at the fort, 
nothing more than a pleasant breeze was felt back of 
the Devil's peak. The commander therefore tried if 
grain could not be raised in that locality. At a place 
where a round grove of thorn trees was standing, 
from which it received the name Rondebosch, a plot 
of ground was laid under the plough, and some wheat, 
oats, and barley were sown. The experiment was 
successful, for the grain throve wonderfully well, and 
yielded a large return. 

The Cape establishment was thus answering its 
purpose admirably, but the expense attending it was 
found to be greater than the directors of the East 
India Company had anticipated, so they cast about 
for some means of reducing its cost. After much dis- 
cussion they resolved to locate a few burgher families 
on plots of ground in the neighbourhood of the fort, 
and instructed Mr. Van Riebeek to carry this des'gn 
into execution. They were of opinion that the men, 
though not in their service, would assist in the defence 
of the station, so that the garrison could be reduced, 
and that from such persons vegetables, grain, fruit, 
pigs, poultry, &c., could be purchased as cheaply as 
the Company could produce them with hired servants. 
The plan was to select a few respectable married men 
from the workpeople, to send their wives and children 
out to them, and to give them a start as market 
gardeners or small farmers. 



FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 



In February 1657 ^i^e of the Company's servants 
took their discharge, and had small plots of ground 
allotted to them along the Liesbeek river at Ronde- 
bosch. They were the first South African colonists 
in the true sense of the word. They were provided 
on credit with everything that was necessary to give 
them a fair start as agriculturists, and in return they 
bound themselves to deliver the produce of their 
ground at the fort at reasonable prices until the debt 
was cleared off 

Within a few months thirty-eight others took their 
discharge on the same conditions. But it soon ap- 
peared that many of these men were not adapted 
for the life of independent gardeners, and it became 
necessary to take them back into the Company's 
service, when the ground that they had occupied was 
given to others on trial. In this manner a selection 
was constantly being made, in which only the steady 
and industrious remained as permanent colonists. 
There was a rule that only married men of Dutch 
or German birth should have land assigned to them, 

32 



INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES. 33 

but it was not strictly observed, and single men who 
were mechanics or who would take service with 
gardeners were frequently discharged by the Com- 
pany. As soon as a man proved himself able to 
make a competent living, he had only to apply for 
his wife and children to be sent out from Europe, 
and with the next fleet they were forwarded to him. 
The descendants of many of those who at this time 
became colonists are now scattered over South Africa 
from the Cape of Good Hope to the Zambesi and 
Benguela. 

In this manner the colonisation of South Africa 
was commenced, but as yet there was no intention 
of forming a European settlement of any great extent. 
A few gardeners, fruit growers, and poultry breeders 
within four or five miles of the fort comprised the 
whole scheme which the East India Company had 
in view. These people were to pay tithes of any 
grain they might produce after twelve years' occupation, 
but were otherwise to be left untaxed. It was still 
supposed that as many cattle as were needed could 
be obtained from the Hottentots. 

In 1658 the great mistake of introducing negro 
slaves was made, a mistake from which the country 
has suffered much in the past and must suffer for all 
time to come. There was no necessity for the intro- 
duction of these people. The climate for nine months 
in the year is to Europeans the pleasantest in the 
world, and even during the other three — excepting 
from twenty to thirty excessively hot days — white 
men can labour in the open air without discomfort 
The settlement could have been purely European. 

4. 



34 FOUNDATION OF 7 HE CAPE COLONY, 

But in the seventeenth century it was the custom 
of all colonising nations to make of the negro a hewer 
of wood and drawer of water, and the Dutch merely 
acted in the spirit of the age. 

From a Portuguese slave ship captured at sea the 
first negroes brought to the Cape settlement were 
taken, and shortly afterwards a number arrived from 
the coast of Guinea in one of the Company's vcbsels. 
Some of them were sold on credit to the burghers, 
but the greater number were kept by the government 
to do whatever rough labour was needed. This fixed 
the character of the colony, for the system once 
entered upon could only with great difficulty be 
altered. The white man and the black cannot work 
side by side on equal terms, hence manual labour 
came to be regarded by the Europeans as degrading, 
a sentiment that has not died out at the present 
day. 

The Dutch laws at that time made manumission 
extremely easy, and freed negroes had all the rights 
of colonists, though they were without the hereditary 
training necessary to enable them to make proper 
use of their privileges. As soon, however, as it was 
ascertained by experience that they were too indolent 
and thriftless to put by anything for sickness or old 
age, when they became a burden upon the community, 
a law was made that any one emancipating a slave 
under ordinary circumstances must hot only give 
security that he or she would not become a depen- 
dent upon the poor funds within a certain number 
of years, but also pay a sum of money into the poor 
funds as a premium on the risk of his or her requiring 



INTRODUCTION OF ASIATICS. 35 

aid after that period. This checked manumission 
considerably, still as many slaves were emancipated 
by the testaments of their owners, and others obtained 
their liberty under special circumstances, the free 
negroes would have become a large body in course 
of time if they had not been swept away by imported 
diseases, to which their habits of living made them 
an easy prey. 

Besides negroes, the East India Company at this 
time began to introduce Asiatics — chiefly natives of 
Malacca, Java, and the Spice islands — into the settle- 
ment. These persons were criminals sentenced by 
the high court of justice at Batavia to slavery either 
for life or for a term of years, and were then sent to 
South Africa to undergo their punishment. In in- 
telligence they were far above the natives of Guinea 
or Mozambique, many of them being able to work 
as masons, harness makers, coopers, and tailors. They 
all professed the Moslem religion. Being without 
women of their own nationality, they formed con- 
nections with African slave girls, and thus arose one 
of the many classes of mixed breeds in the country. 

At a little later date the Company made of South 
Africa a place of banishment for Indian political 
prisoners of high rank, who were often accompanied 
by their families and numerous attendants, male and 
female. These people had fixed allowances from the 
government for their support. Sometimes families 
of their dependents became attached to the country, 
and preferred to remain here when the time came for 
their return to Java if they had chosen to go back. 
A race of pure Asiatics thus arose, never very 



36 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 

numerous, though for more than a century political 
offenders continued to be sent from Batavia to Cape- 
town. The last were some natives of high rank in 
the islands of Tidor and Ternate, who made their 
escape from this country in 1781. 

One of these exiles was the Sheikh Joseph, who 
took a leading part in the Bantamese civil war of 
1682, and who was a determined opponent of the 
Dutch. He was a man of great repute for sanctity, 
and was believed by his Moslem followers to have 
performed some extraordinary miracles. He died 
near the head of False Bay, and his tomb there is 
still a place of pilgrimage for Mohamedans in South 
Africa. 

Thus early in the history of the Cape Colony three 
varieties of human beings were introduced : Euro- 
peans, negroes, and Javanese. The aboriginal 
Hottentots formed a fourth variety. As years 
passed away mixed breeds of every colour between 
these four extremes were to be seen, side by side 
with the pure races, so that nowhere else could such 
a diversity of hue and of features be found as in the 
Cape peninsula. The crosses between Europeans 
and the lower races did not increase in number as 
rapidly as pure breeds, however, owing to a lack of 
high fertility among themselves, and unless connected 
again with one of their ancestral stocks, they often 
died out altogether in the third generation. The 
same may be said of the half-breed Asiatics and 
negroes, but the cross between the others was more 
fertile. 

The pastoral Hottentot clans looked upon the 



THE FIRST HOTTENTOT WAR. 37 

European settlement along the Liesbeek with a 
good deal of jealousy. It was not alone the ground 
under cultivation that was lost to them, for the 
government had given the burghers a free right of 
pasture, and thus the ancient owners were excluded 
from the best patches of grass along the base of the 
mountain. Early in 1659 the two clans that had 
always been accustomed to visit the Cape peninsula 
in the summer season with their flocks and herds 
appeared there as usual, and were informed that they 
must keep away from the grass that the Company 
and the burghers needed. This aanouncement was 
not at all to their liking. They had ample pasture 
left in the peninsula for ten times the number of cattle 
in their possession, and all the country stretching 
away beyond the isthmus as far as could be seen was 
theirs to roam over ; but they were like other people, 
they did not relish being depriv-ed by force of any- 
thing that they regarded as their own. 

So they commenced to drive off the burghers' cows, 
and murdered a white herdsman. The beachrangers 
in Table Valley, though they were certainly gainers 
by the presence of the Europeans, and though they 
had a long-standing feud with the pastoral clans, now 
joined their countrymen. In this manner what the 
colonists termed the first Hottentot war began. 

In fact, however, it could hardly be termed a war, 
for the natives were careful to avoid a pitched battle, 
and the Europeans were unable to surprise any large 
body of them. On two occasions only were small 
parties met, when six or seven were killed and a few 
more were wounded. The pastoral clans then 



38 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 

abandoned the peninsula, and the beachrangers, 
upon begging for peace, were allowed to return to 
Table Valley. 

A strong fence, through which cattle could not be 
driven, was now made along the outer boundary of 
the settlement, three watchhouses were built to defend 
it, and in these were stationed companies of horse- 
men, whose duty it was to patrol the border. Some 
powerful dogs were imported from Java, and the 
Europeans then considered themselves secure. 

The Hottentots were the first to make overtures 
for a restoration of friendship. About a twelvemonth 
after the first breach of the peace they sent messengers 
to the fort to propose a reconciliation, and as these 
were well received the chiefs followed, when terms 
were agreed to. These were that neither party was 
thereafter to molest the other, that the lately hostile 
clans were to endeavour to induce those living farther 
inland to bring cattle to the fort for sale, that the 
Europeans were to retain possession of the land 
occupied by them, that roads were to be pointed out 
along which the Hottentots could come to the fort, 
and that any European who molested a Hottentot 
should be severely punished. 

After the conclusion of peace the cattle trade went 
on briskly. Bartering parties were sometimes sent 
out, but Hottentots often came from a distance of 
eighty or a hundred miles with troc^s of oxen and 
flocks of sheep for sale. They were very eager to 
obtain bright coloured beads and other trifles. The 
quantity of beads given for an ox cost only from eight 
to ten pence, but there were other and larger expenses 



THE FIRST CHURCH. 39 

connected with the trade. Presents, consisting of flat 
pieces of copper, wire, iron rods, axes, tobacco, pipes, 
and other articles, were frequently made to the chiefs 
to secure their friendship, and all who came to the 
fort were liberally entertained. The burghers were 
strictly prohibited from holding intercourse of any 
kind with other Hottentots than the beachrangers, 
but in defiance of the law some of them found means 
to carry on a petty cattle trade. 

After ten years' service in South Africa Mr. Van 
Riebeek was sent on to India, where he received 
promotion, and Mr. Zacharias Wagenaar took his 
place at the Cape. During this commander's term 
of office— which extended over four years — a few 
events occurred that are worthy of notice. 

In earlier years a catechist, who was also a school- 
master, held services on Sundays, and the chaplains 
of ships that called administered the sacraments. 
But now the settlement was provided with a resident 
clergyman. From this time onward there was a fully 
organised church, subject to the spiritual control of 
the classis or presbytery of Amsterdam. 

In 1664 the island of Mauritius was taken into 
possession by the Dutch East India Company to 
keep it from falling into other hands, and it was 
made a dependency of the Cape station. A few 
men were sent there to cut ebony logs, and once a 
year a packet took supplies to them from Table Bay 
and brought back a cargo of timber. 

Owing to the threatening attitude ot England, 
the directors resolved to build a strong fortress in 
Table Valley, as the walls of earth, which were 



40 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY, 

considered ample protection against Hottentots, 
would be a poor defence if a British force should 
land. The castle of Good Hope, which is still 
standing, was commenced in 1666, and was completed 
in 1674. It is now useless for military purposes, but 
for some time after its construction it was considered 
almost impregnable. The directors, who were be- 
ginning to realise that the French and the Enghsh 
might prove formidable rivals in the eastern seas, 
had come to regard their station in the Cape 
peninsula as a strategic point of great importance. 
" The castle of Good Hope," they wrote, " is the 
frontier fortress of India," and as such they provided 
it with a strong garrison. 

Commander Wagenaar's successors for some time 
were men of very little note, and nothing of much con- 
sequence occurred to disturb the quiet course of life 
in the settlement. All was bustle and activity when 
the outward or homeward bound Indian fleets were in 
the bay, but after their anchors were raised there was 
nothing to create excitement. The workmen engaged 
in building the castle and the garrison when it was 
completed increased the demand for food, so that 
more servants of the Company took their discharge 
and set up for themselves as market gardeners. Soon 
the best plots of land within the boundary fence were 
all taken up, and then the fence was disregarded 
and the settlement spread out to the present village 
of Wynberg. The proportion of men who took their 
discharge and succeeded in making a living on their 
own account was, however, always very small. It 
was probably not ten per cent, of the whole. The 



42 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY, 

others after a trial had to be taken back into the 
Company's service as soldiers or sailors, most of 
them with debts that they could never wholly clear 
ofif. The system was thus a very unsatisfactory 
one. 

The directors thought of improving upon it by 
sending out families accustomed to agriculture in 
the Netherlands, who would serve as models for the 
others ; but though they offered free passages, grants 
of land without payment, exemption from the tithe 
for twelve years, and supplies of necessaries on easy 
credit, very (gw people of the class required could 
be induced to migrate to South Africa. The Cape 
was too far away and too little was known of it 
to tempt men and women to leave a country where 
there was no difficulty in making a comfortable living. 
In 1 67 1, however, five or six families arrived, and 
thereafter during several years one or two came out 
occasionally. 

Twenty years after Mr. Van Riebeek landed and 
took possession of as much ground as he needed, 
without thinking of asking the consent of any one, 
a member of the high court of justice at Batavia on 
his way back to Europe called at the Cape, and being 
superior in rank to any one here, took command 
during his stay. This officer — Arnout van Overbeke 
by name — considered it advisable to make a formal 
purchase of territory from the nearest Hottentot 
chiefs, and these petty potentates, on being applied 
to, very readily gave their consent If they reasoned 
at all about the matter, they probably thought that 
the price offered was clear gain, for the white people 



PURCHASE OF TERRITORY. 43 

would certainly take as much ground as they needed, 
whether sold to them or not. 

At any rate the principal chief of one tribe and the 
regents of another affixed their marks to documents 
that are still in existence, in which they ceded to 
the East India Company the whole territory from 
Saldanha Bay to False Bay, reserving to themselves 
and their people, however, the right to move freely 
about and make use of any part of it not occupied 
by Europeans. They received nominally in return 
goods to the value of i^ 1,600, actually — according to 
the accounts furnished to the directors — the articles 
transferred cost £g 1 2s. Qd. 

A few months after this transaction an outpost was 
formed at Hottentots- Holland, near the head of False 
Bay, on the eastern side of the isthmus. One of the 
objects in view was to raise a large quantity of wheat, 
fc-i" which purpose the ground at that place appeared 
specially suitable, but the chief design was to pro- 
vide a retreat for the garrison in case it should be 
needed. The Free Netherlands were then engaged 
in the most unequal struggle that modern Europe 
has witnessed, for Louis XIV of France, Charles 
II of England, and the ecclesiastical princes of 
Cologne and Munster were united against them. 
On two occasions shortly before the war broke out 
the admirals of French fleets had taken possession 
of Saldanha Bay, though without leaving any men 
there to guard it, and it was believed that the French 
king might make an effort to seize the Cape penin- 
sula. An attack by the English was equally probable. 
As events turned out, the Dutch got the better of 



44 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 

their opponents in Europe, and the Cape settlement 
was not molested, so that the outpost at Hottentots- 
Holland became simply a farming establishment 
where the wheat needed by the Company was grown. 

By this time the belt of land along the sea coast as 
far eastward as Mossel Bay had been thoroughly 
explored by parties sent out to obtain cattle. In 
1658 some members of a trading expedition climbed 
to the top of the mountain barrier near the ravine 
through which the Little Berg river flows ; but the 
land as far as they could see appeared to be un- 
inhabited, so there was nothing to induce further 
search in that direction. Nine years later another 
way over the barrier was found at the place now 
known as Sir Lowry's pass, sixty miles south of the 
ravine of the Little Berg river. The Hottentot tribes 
termed the Hessequa, Gauriqua, Attaqua, and Oute- 
niqua were then successfully reached and traded with. 
Those previously known along the western coast were 
the Chainouqua, the Goringhaiqua (or Kaapmans), 
the Cochoqua, the Grigriqua, and the Namaqua. 

Bushmen had been met on several occasions, and 
their manner of living was pretty well known. Some 
of these wild people had once attempted to seize the 
merchandise belonging to a European trading party, 
when a number of them were shot down, greatly to 
the satisfaction of the Hessequa and other Hottentots 
who lived in the neighbourhood of the place where the 
event occurred. 



VI. 



THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR AND ITS CON- 
SEQUENCES. 



One of the most powerful of the Hottentot tribes 
near the Cape peninsula was called the Cochoqua, or 
by some name which the Europeans wrote in that 
form, for probably it had clicks in it. This tribe was 
composed of two great clans, the larger of which was 
under a chief named Gonnema. Gonnema had an 
evil reputation among all the other Hottentots with 
whom the Dutch were acquainted, for he was in the 
habit of swooping down upon them unawares and 
helping himself to their daughters and their cattle, 
and they were too weak to resist him. He had 
sold a good many oxen to the white people, but 
they did not like him either, for his bearing was never 
very friendly. They usually termed him the black 
captain, on account of his habit of using soot instead 
of clay to paint himself with. 

In 1673 a war broke out between Gonnema and the 
Europeans, the only war that has ever taken place 
between white people and natives in South Africa 
of which we have not the versions of both parties to 

45 



40 THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR, 

form a judgment from. The Cochoqua clan has left 
no story, nor is there a plea on its behalf on record. 
But the Dutch accounts are full of details, and it is 
easy from them to ascertain how Gonnema came to 
feel himself aggrieved. 

The country was teeming with game, antelopes of 
many kinds, elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotami. 
Hunters were sent out from the fort, and brought 
back waggons laden with dried meat, which was 
supplied to the garrison instead of beef The hippo- 
potamus, or sea-cow as it was called, was specially 
sought after, for its flesh was regarded as equal to 
pork, and whips made of its hide commanded a very 
high price everywhere. Parties of burghers were in 
the habit of getting leave from the government and 
going out hunting elands and sea-cows, sometimes 
being away from home three or four weeks together. 
It never seems to have occurred to the white people 
that the Hottentots might object to the destruction 
of scT much game, but very Hkely that was the cause 
of Gonnema's hostility. 

In 1672 he came upon some hunters at Riebeek's 
Kasteel, and took their waggons and other property, 
but allowed them to escape with their lives. In the 
following year he made prisoners of eight burghers 
and a slave who were hunting near the same place, 
and after detaining them some days murdered them 
all. At the same time one of his sub-captains 
surprised a little trading outpost of the Company 
at Saldanha Bay, plundered it, and murdered four 
Europeans. 

A mixed force of soldiers and burghers was then 



THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR, 47 

sent against the Cochoqua clan, and as it was partly 
composed of horsemen it had the good fortune to 
cut off Gonnema's people from a strong position to 
which they tried to retreat and to seize eight hundred 
of their horned cattle and nine hundred sheep. The 
Hottentots followed the expedition when returning 
to the fort, but did not succeed in recovering their 
stock. Ten or twelve of them were shot, and on the 
other side one burgher was wounded. 

Various clans now offered their aid against Gonne- 
ma, and were accepted as allies by the Europeans. 
For several months the Cochoqua kept out of the 
way, but at length they were so nearly surrounded 
that they barely managed to escape, leaving all their 
cattle behind. The spoil was much greater than on the 
first occasion, and was divided between the Europeans 
and the Hottentot allies. 

Gonnema after this loss kept to the mountains for 
nearly two years, avoiding his enemies, but preventing 
all intercourse between them and the tribes beyond. 
Then he pounced suddenly upon some of the Hottentot 
allies of the Europeans, and with the loss of only 
fifteen of his own men killed a good many of them 
and swept off the greater part of their herds. He 
was pursued by all the soldiers and burghers that 
could be mustered, but he got safely away to his 
mountain fastnesses. No expedition sent against 
him after that time managed to surprise him, for his 
scouts were always on the alert. The Europeans 
found that they were wearying themselves to no 
purpose in trying to find him, so they desisted from 
the fruitless task. 



48 THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR. 

For four years the settlement was kept practically 
in a condition of blockade on the land side, when 
Gonnema sent to ask for peace, as he was tired 
of living like a Bushman in the mountains. His 
messengers were well received, and were followed 
by three of his chief men, who agreed in his name 
to the terms proposed. They were that there should 
be peace and friendship between all the parties 
engaged in the war, and that Gonnema should pay 
to the Company a yearly tribute of thirty head of 
cattle. Presents were then exchanged, and the land 
was once more at rest. 

Perhaps it was never intended that tribute should 
really be paid, at any rate it was considered prudent 
not to refer to the subject again, and the Cochoqua 
clan was left untroubled about it. 

This was the last war with Hottentots during the 
rule of the Dutch East India Company in South Africa. 
It was a trifling affair if considered by the number of 
combatants or the quantity of spoil, and not a single 
hand to-hand engagement had taken place ; but it 
had very important consequences. During four years 
Gonnema had cut off the cattle trade, so there was 
no fresh beef or mutton for the crews of the fleets 
that called, and even the hospital could not be 
supplied, as the oxen and sheep that were captured 
and that the clans in alliance with the Europeans 
were able to furnish were soon exhausted. The 
Company was not disposed to run the risk of a 
second experience of this kind. The expense of 
the station had grown very far beyond original 
expectations, there was now a huge fortress to be 



ORIGIN OF THE CATTLE FARMERS. 49 

kept up and a large garrison to be maintained in 
addition to victualling charges properly so called ; 
and such an outlay could only be justified by the 
perfect efficiency of the establishment. If a supply 
of fresh meat could not be depended upon, one of the 
main objects of its existence was a failure. And as 
trade with the Hottentots might at any time be cut 
off again, European cattle-breeders must be intro- 
duced. 

The great difficulty in the way was the scarcity of 
Europeans with the habits needed. They would be 
obliged to live far apart, and would be exposed to 
plunder by the natives and losses from the ravages of 
wild animals. The country was swarming with lions, 
leopards, hyenas, and jackals ; and with the clumsy 
firelocks of those days it was a risky matter to go 
out alone into the wilds. As a commencement the 
Company established several cattle posts on its own 
account on the eastern side of the isthmus, to which 
cows and ewes were sent as they could be procured 
in barter, and at each a corporal was stationed with a 
few soldiers to guard the stock. 

Then offers were made to the gardeners at Ronde- 
bosch and Wynberg to improve their prospects by 
turning cattle breeders. They could select land near 
the Company's posts, so that they would not be alto- 
gether without companionship, no taxes of any kind 
would be demanded from them till they were in a 
good position, and breeding cattle would be lent to 
them to take care of, half the increase of which would 
be their own. The view of the government was that 
if gardeners and small farmers could not be procured 

5 



50 EXTENSION OF THE SETTLEMENT. 

as emigrants from Europe, they must be trained in 
the old way of selection to take the place of those 
who should become stock-breeders. 

The prospect, however, did not appear very attrac- 
tive, for before the close of 1679 only eight burghers 
accepted the Company's offer, and took up their 
residence beyond the isthmus. 

At this time a very energetic man, named Simon 
van der Stel, arrived from Amsterdam as commander. 
No one could have been better qualified to carry out 
the new project, and he threw himself heart and soul 
into it. He had, however, a particular desire that only 
Netherlanders should settle in the country, for he 
believed that whatever was Dutch was good, and 
whatever was not Dutch was not worth bothering 
about But the directors in Holland were not of this 
opinion. They were very glad to obtain the services 
of competent men of all nationalities, and provided 
the majority of the settlers were Dutch they were 
quite willing to give equal privileges to others. 

Except in this respect Simon van der Stel was 
allowed to carry out the plan in his own way. He 
began by inducing a party of eight families to re- 
move from Rondebosch to a fertile and beautiful 
valley beyond the isthmus, where he gave them large 
plots of g**ound in freehold, with extensive grazing 
rights beyond. This settlement, which was named 
Stellenbosch, he intended to be the centre of a dis- 
trict in which all kinds of farming pursuits should 
be carried on, where vineyards should be planted 
and wine be made, where wheat should be grown 
and cattle be reared. When the fleets from India 



ARRIVAL OF HUGUENOTS. 5I 

put into Table Bay on their way home, the com- 
mander's agents ingratiated themselves with the 
people on board, and whenever a man likely to 
make a good colonist was discovered, inducements 
were held out to him to remain in the country. In 
this way the vacancies were filled up in the Cape 
peninsula as fast as they arose, and many new-comers 
could be located beside experienced men at Stellen- 
bosch. 

A few years later a settlement was formed in a 
similar manner at Drakenstein, in the valley of the 
Berg river, one of the most charming situations in 
South Africa. 

The directors were doing all that was in their 
power to get suitable people to migrate from the 
Netherlands. Among others they sent out a few 
young women from the orphan asylums in Amster- 
dam and Rotterdam, who were carefully protected 
and provided for until they found husbands in the 
colony. 

And now an event took place in Europe which 
enabled them to secure over a hundred families of 
the very best stamp. This was the revocation by 
Louis XIV of the edict of Nantes, which drove 
many thousands of Protestant refugees from France 
into Holland. Their presence in some of the pro- 
vinces so greatly reduced the demand for labour 
that industrious Dutch families were more willing 
to remove than they had previously been, and the 
Company was able to send to South Africa nearly 
two hundred Huguenots and about the same number 
of Dutch people of both sexes and all ages. Upon 



52 EXTENSION OF THE SETTLEMENT. 

their arrival they were scattered over the country 
between the Groenberg, the Koeberg, and Hotten- 
tots-Holland, the larger number of the French being 
located in the valley of the Berg river. Care was 
taken, however, to mix them together, so that the 
nationalities would speedily become blended. 

Having now a base to fall back upon if necessary, 
a few stragglers began to push their way in one 
direction down the Berg river, and in another beyond 
the Koeberg. Still, at the close of the seventeenth 
century there was no white man living more than 
forty-five miles from the castle, and the whole terri- 
tory occupied by Europeans was within the range of 
mountains visible from ships at anchor in Table Bay. 

The colonists, with their wives and children, were 
then some fourteen hundred in number. The French 
Huguenots were about one-sixth of the whole, a 
rather larger proportion consisted of Germans from 
the borderland between the high and low Teutons, 
and nearly two-thirds were Dutch from the different 
Netherland provinces. The Germans were, almost 
without exception, men who were married to Dutch 
women. Intermarriages between the Huguenots and 
other colonists were common, and in another genera- 
tion distinctions of nationality were entirely lost. 

The language used in common conversation was 
Dutch made as simple and expressive as possible, so 
as to be understood by slaves with only the mental 
capacities of children. Grammatical rules were dis- 
regarded. In the pulpit and in family devotions, 
however, correct Dutch was used, as it is very 
generally to the present day. 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 53 

There were three churches provided with clergy- 
men : in Capetown, at Stellenbosch, and at Draken- 
stein. At each of these places there was also a 
public school, in which children were taught to read 
the bible, to cast up simple accounts, to repeat the 
Heidelberg catechism, and to sing the psalms. The 
Dutch reformed was the state church, and no other 
public services were allowed, but in their own houses 
people might hold any kind of worship that they 
pleased. 

The head of the settlement was now termed the 
governor. Public matters of all kinds were regulated 
by a council of eight individuals, who were the highest 
officials in rank in the country. In this council the 
governor sat as president. In Capetown there was 
a court for the trial of petty cases, and a high court 
of justice, from whose decisions there was an appeal 
to the supreme court at Batavia. Three burghers 
had seats in the high court of justice whenever cases 
affecting colonists were tried. They were the spokes- 
men between the colonists and the government, and 
were consulted upon all matters affecting the settle- 
ment, but they had no votes outside the court of 
justice. They were called burgher councillors. 

At Stellenbosch there was a court which had cog- 
nisance of all petty cases beyond the Cape peninsula. 
It was presided over by an official termed a landdrost, 
who also collected the revenue and looked after the 
Company's interests generally. Eight burghers — 
termed heemraden — had seats and votes. This court 
acted further as a district council, in which capacity 
it saw to the repair of roads, the distribution of water. 



54 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, 

the destruction of noxious animals, and various other 
matters. It raised a revenue by erecting a mill to 
grind corn and leasing it to the highest bidder, by- 
collecting a yearly tax of one shilling and fourpence 
for every hundred sheep or twenty head of horned 
cattle owned by the farmers, and by sundry other 
small imposts. Further, it had power to compel the 
inhabitants to supply waggons, cattle, slaves, and 
their own labour for public purposes. 

In Capetown there was an orphan chamber, which 
acted as trustee of property belonging to children 
when a parent died. There was also a matrimonial 
court, before which every person in the settlement — 
male and female — who wished to be married had to 
appear and show that there were no legal impedi- 
ments to the union. 

All these bodies — burgher councillors, petty court 
of justice, heemraden, orphan chamber, and matri- 
monial court — as also the consistories of the churches, 
were in a manner self-perpetuating corporations. 
Every year some of their members retired, but before 
doing so double lists of names were sent by the 
boards to the government, and from these lists their 
successors were appointed. Such a thing as popular 
election to any office was unknown. The system 
worked well on the whole, and the people were 
satisfied with it. 

The burghers were required to meet at stated 
periods for drill and practice in the use of arms, 
and all were held liable for service in case of the 
appearance of an enemy. They were formed into 
companies of cavalry and infantry, each with its 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 55 

standard of a particular colour. Most of them were 
excellent marksmen, owing to their habits of fre- 
quently hunting g:ame ; but their firearms were 
very clumsy weapons compared with those of our 
day. To reduce the cost of the garrison, numbers 
of soldiers were permitted to engage as servants to 
burghers, on condition that they could be called back 
to their colours at any time. 

Capetown at the close of the century contained 
about eighty private houses. The great garden of 
the Company, which Simon van der Stel had partly 
converted into a nursery for European, Indian, and 
native plants, was regarded as something marvellous 
by visitors of all nations, so great a variety of vege- 
tation was to be seen and admired there. This 
governor, upon his retirement in 1699, went to live 
upon a beautiful estate which the Company gave him 
a little beyond Wynberg, where he planted the vine- 
yards that in later years produced the celebrated 
Constantia wines. He was an enthusiast in the 
matter of cultivating oak trees, and during the twenty 
years of his government many scores of thousands 
were planted by his orders all over the settlement. 

The system of taxation was as bad as could be 
devised, so far as effect upon the character of the 
people was concerned. The exclusive right to sell 
various articles — among others spirituous liquors — was 
sold by auction as a monopoly to the highest bidder. 
Upon anything that the government required— such 
as beef and mutton — a price per pound was fixed to 
the residents in Capetown, and a much higher price 
to foreigners ; the monopoly was then put up for 



56 SYSTEM GF TAXATION. 

sale, and whoever offered to supply the Company at 
the lowest rate became the purchaser. Thus beef 
might be a penny a pound to a mechanic in Cape- 
town, twopence a pound to the captain of an English 
ship, and a halfpenny a pound to the Company's 
hospital. The tithe of grain and the district tax 
upon cattle were both paid upon returns made by the 
farmers themselves, so that a premium was offered 
for falsehood. This system was soon discovered to 
be vicious, but it was continued without modification 
until towards the close of the next century. 

The government exercised the right of fixing the 
price of anything that it needed, and prohibiting the 
sale of the article to any one else until its own wants 
were supplied. Thus, if half-a-dozen Dutch ships and 
two or three English Indiamen were lying at anchor 
in Table Bay at a time when the meal in the Com- 
pany's stores was exhausted, the Englishmen would 
certainly get no bread until the Hollanders' tables 
were covered. But, upon the whole, strangers were 
much better treated here than the Dutch were treated 
in foreign ports, and it was only in times of scarcity 
that they had cause to complain of anything except 
high prices. 

The Company was supposed to be the only whole- 
sale merchant in the country. From its stores in 
Capetown shopkeepers were supplied with imported 
goods, and everything that was exported in bulk 
passed through its hands. But in point of fact a 
large proportion of the trade of the country was 
carried on with ships' people, Dutch and foreign. 
From the captain of an Indiaman of any nationality 



SYSTEM OF TRADE. 57 

down to the youngest midshipman, every one had 
some Httle venture of his own that he was always 
ready to trade with. It might be a bale of calico, or 
it might be a slave, for many bondsmen were brought 
to South Africa in this way. Even among the fore- 
mast hands the spirit of commerce was strong. A 
sailor when homeward bound was commonly accom- 
panied by monkeys and parrots and cockatoos and 
various descriptions of birds and beasts till the fore- 
castle was often like a menagerie, in his chest he had 
fancy articles from Japan, silk handkerchiefs from 
China, or perhaps some curiosities picked up at an 
Indian isle. This kind of commerce was very petty, 
but in the aggregate it must have amounted to some- 
thing considerable, for the inhabitants of Capetown 
during more than a hundred years lived and throve 
upon it Nowhere in the world, we read again and 
again in accounts of travellers of many nationalities, 
could a greater variety of goods be purchased and 
sold. The traffic was carried on openly, for though 
there was a law that goods should not be imported by 
foreigners, it was not applied to ventures by ships' 
people — English, French, or Danish — on their own 
account. 

By this time the knowledge of South African 
geography had very greatly increased. Simon van 
der Stel himself with a large party of attendants had 
visited the copper mountain of Little Namaqualand, 
and had received information from the natives there 
of the great river now known as the Orange. Some 
Dutch and English sailors, shipwrecked on the eastern 
coast, before they were rescued had travelled in one 



EXPLORATION. 59 

direction to Delagoa Bay, and in the other to the 
Buffalo river. From them as accurate an account of 
the southern Bantu tribes was obtained as any we 
have at the present day. Parties of cattle traders 
had brought back information of every Hottentot 
tribe in existence except the Korana. But as yet no 
white man had set foot upon the plain of the Karoo, 
and consequently nothing was known of the far 
interior. 




VII. 



PROGRESS OF THE CAPE COLONY FROM IJOO TO 

1750. 



In the first year of the eighteenth century the 
second terrace upward from the sea began to be 
occupied by Europeans. Wilhem Adrian van der 
Stel, eldest son of Simon van der Stel, was then 
governor. He made a tour of inspection through the 
settlement, and afterwards crossed the mountain range 
close to the ravine of the Little Berg river, for the 
purpose of examining the country beyond. It was 
the beautiful tract of land now called the Tulbagh 
basin which the governor and his party entered, and 
it seemed to them to invite human occupation. 

The settlement on the coast belt had been a success, 

but it had not been able to supply many cattle. The 

land was adapted for cultivation, there was a market 

within easy reach, and the ideas of the people 

favoured the plough. To this day the inhabitants 

of that part of the country depend upon their crops 

of wheat, their fruit, and their wine, and keep no 

more oxen and sheep than are required for their own 

use. 

60 



LIFE OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 6l 

On the other side of the mountain range agriculture 
was not then possible. The Tulbagh basin is fertile ; 
its extensive corn lands, its vineyards, and the gar- 
dens and orchards round its homesteads form now 
a pleasant sight in the early summer ; but in those 
days, u^hen there w^as no other way of access to it 
than over a mountain that could only be crossed with 
the greatest difficulty, no man would think of making 
a living by the plough. Cattle breeding alone could 
be depended upon there. 

A small military outpost was formed in the basin 
to protect the settlers from the Bushmen who had 
their haunts in the surrounding mountains, and then 
several families were induced to try their fortune in 
the lonely vale. A few individuals were still being 
sent out from Europe every year, and the old system 
of discharging servants of the Company continued in 
practice, so that settlers were obtainable. But as a 
rule new-comers were located near the Cape penin- 
sula, and young people born in the country com- 
menced life for themselves beyond the mountain 
range. 

Gradually they spread beyond the Tulbagh basin, 
down the valley of the Breede river, and over the 
Witsenberg to the high plateau called the Warm 
Bokkeveld. Others crossed the range at Hottentots- 
Holland, and pushed their way along the banks of 
the Zonderend and down towards the sea at Cape 
Agulhas. Others again kept up the western coast 
belt, passed the Piketberg, and in course of time 
reached the mouth of the Elephant river. 

The life led by these pioneers of civilisation was 



LIFE OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 6.3 

rough and wild, but it had its own pecuh'ar charm. 
Cattle breeding was found to pay fairly well. Some- 
times Bushmen would drive off oxen or sheep, 
and a little excitement was caused by the pursuit of 
the marauders, but otherwise the time passed away 
quietly. The best of health was commonly enjoyed, 
and there was the most perfect freedom. The only 
direct tax towards the general revenue was £$ a 
year, which each grazier was required to pay, and for 
which he had a legal right to the use of six thousand 
acres of ground, with the privilege of moving into 
the Karoo for a couple of months every year to give 
his stock a change of pasture. During these migra- 
tions he and his family slept in a great tent waggon, 
and passed the day in the open air, usually selecting 
a patch of trees on the bank of a stream for a camping 
place. A distaste for town life, with its restraints 
and all the nameless annoyances to which simple 
people are exposed when in contact with men of 
sharper intellect, soon became part of the nature of a 
cattle breeder, and grew stronger with each succeeding 
generation. The children and grandchildren of Dutch 
gardeners, German mechanics, and Huguenot trades- 
men by force of circumstances reverted in habits and 
in thought to the condition of semi-nomads. In the 
language of South Africa these people were called 
trekboeren, that is wandering farmers. Many of 
them became expert elephant hunters, and travelled 
great distances in search of ivory. 

Behind them, as they moved onward, a more settled 
class of people occupied the country, though very 
thinly. These built better houses than the others, as 



64 CAPE COLONY FROM 1700 TO 1750. 

soon as rough roads were made they combined agri- 
culture with cattle breeding, and generally they led 
more stable lives. In this manner hardly a year 
passed by without an expansion of the settlement. 

Wilhem Adrian van der Stel, who was governor 
when the colonists crossed the first mountain range, 
was a man of culture and ability, but he had an 
inordinate passion for making money, a fault that was 
common to many of the Company's servants. To get 
together a fortune with which to return to the Nether- 
lands was an object ever before the eyes of these men, 
and the system under which they served favoured the 
accomplishment of their plans. The Company paid 
its officers the smallest of salaries, but allowed them 
perquisites of various kinds. In the preceding 
chapter mention has been made of the trade carried 
on under its sanction by the people of its fleets. Its 
officials on shore had even greater privileges. Some 
of them received commissions on sales and purchases 
of goods, others held monopolies of lucrative duties, 
others again were allowed to trade in specified articles 
on their own account. Spices only were guarded with 
the most extreme jealousy, and if any one had 
ventured to buy or sell a pound of pepper or a dozen 
nutmegs except at the Company's stores, dismissal 
from the service would have been the lightest part of 
his punishment. 

It followed from this system that in the early days 
of the settlement the officials in South Africa were 
in general exceedingly anxious to get on to India, 
because there was little or nothing to be made here. 
Some of them had been allowed to carry on farming 



WILHEM ADRIAN VAN DER STEL. 65 

on their own account, the landdrost of Stellenbosch 
had a monopoly as an auctioneer, the secretary of the 
council had a monopoly of making out certain legal 
documents, and several others had exclusive privi- 
leges ; but what were these petty gains, they thought, 
to the w^ealth that was gathered by others in the 
Indian isles. 

Wilhem Adrian van der Stel looked about for some 
means to fill his purse, but could devise nothing else 
than a farm. Of course he could not take ground for 
himself; but an officer of higher rank who called was 
obliging enough to give him a tract of land at 
Hottentots-Holland, to which he afterwards added by 
granting a plot of the adjoining ground to one of his 
dependents, and then purchasing it from the grantee 
at a nominal price. At this place he erected exten- 
sive buildings, planted nearly half a million vines, and 
laid out groves, orchards, and corn lands to a corres- 
ponding extent. In the open country beyond the 
mountain he kept from six to eight hundred breeding 
cattle and eight or ten thousand sheep. Of this 
extensive establishment the directors were kept in 
entire ignorance, and there is no mention whatever of 
it in any official document until complaints against 
the governor reached Holland. 

The burghers looked upon the big farm with very 
lively indignation. Their principal gains were derived 
from the sale of produce to foreigners, and they saw 
that market being practically closed to them. The 
governor, they believed, would manage to secure the 
larger part of any profitable business for himself, and 
whatever escaped him would fall to his father, who 

6 



WILHEM ADRIAN VAN DER STEL, 67 

was farming at Constantia, or to his younger brother, 
who was farming below Stellenbosch. 

There have never been people less willing to sub- 
mit silently to grievances, real or imaginary, than the 
colonists of South Africa. In 1705 some of them 
sent a complaint of what was going on to the 
governor-general and council of India, but at Batavia 
nothing was done in the matter. Probably they did 
not expect redress from that quarter, for before there 
was time to receive a reply, a memorial to the 
directors was drawn up and signed by sixty-three of 
the best men in the settlement. In this document 
VVilhem Adrian van der Stel was accused of miscon- 
duct and corrupt practices tending to the serious loss 
and oppression of the colonists. Similar charges, but 
in a lower degree, were made against the officer next 
in rank to the governor and against the clergyman of 
Capetown. These persons also had been neglecting 
their public -duties, and devoting their attention to 
farming. 

With the arrival of the homeward-bound fleet at the 
beginning of 1706 the governor learnt of the com- 
plaint sent to Batavia, and immediately suspected 
that a similar charge would be forwarded to Holland. 
The danger of his position now drove him to acts of 
extreme folly as well as of tyranny. He caused a 
certificate to be drawn up, in which he was credited 
with the highest virtues and the utmost satisfaction 
was expressed with his manner of ruling the colony. 
The residents in the Cape peninsula were invited to 
the castle, and were then requested to sign this cer- 
tificate. The landdrost of Stellenbosch was directed 



68 CAPE COLONY FROM I70O TO I750. 

to proceed with an armed party from house to house 
in the country, and get the residents there to sign it 
also. By these means two hundred and forty names 
in all were obtained, including those of a few Asiatics 
and free blacks. Many, however, refused to affix 
their signatures, even under the landdrost's threat 
that they would be marked men if they did not. 

The governor suspected that a farmer at Stellen- 
bosch named Adam Tas was the secretary of the dis- 
affected party, and the landdrost was directed to have 
him arrested. Early one morning his house was 
surrounded by an armed party, he was seized and 
sent to the castle, his premises were searched, and his 
writing-desk was carried away. There could be no 
truce after this between the governor and his op- 
ponents, for if a burgher could be treated in this 
manner, upon mere suspicion of having drawn up a 
memorial to the high authorities, no man's liberty 
would be safe. Bail was at once offered for the 
appearance of Tas before a court of justice, but was 
refused. He was committed to prison, where he was 
kept nearly fourteen months. 

In his desk was found the draft from which the 
memorial to the directors had been copied. It was 
unsigned, but papers attached to it indicated several 
of those who had taken part in the matter. Within 
the next few days seven of these were arrested, tw^o 
of whom were committed to prison, one was sent to 
Batavia, and four were put on board a ship bound to 
Amsterdam. The governor hoped to terrify them 
into signing the certificate in his favour and denying 
the truth of the charges against him, but not one of 



WILHEM ADRIAN VAN DER STEL. 69 

them faltered for a moment. Their wives petitioned 
that the prisoners might be brought to trial at once 
before a proper court of justice, and when it was 
hinted that if they would induce their husbands to do 
what was desired, release would follow, these true- 
hearted women indignantly refused. In the mean- 
time the memorial had been committed to the care 
of a physician in the return fleet, and after the ships 
sailed he gave it to one of the burghers who were 
banished. 

The governor continued to act as if his will was 
above the law of the land. Further arrests of 
burghers were made by his direction, the properly 
constituted courts were abolished, and in their stead 
his creatures were appointed to office. The people 
of Stellenbosch, men and women, announced their 
determination to maintain their rights, upon which 
a body of soldiers was sent to support the landdrost. 

Meantime three of the burghers sent to Europe 
arrived at Amsterdam, the other having died on the 
passage, and they lost not a day before presenting 
the memorial to the directors and making their own 
complaint. In a matter of this kind it was necessary 
to act with promptitude as well as with justice. The 
Company had numerous and powerful enemies 
ahvays watching for a chance to attack it before 
the states-general, and a charge of oppression of 
free Netherlanders in one of its colonies would be 
a weapon of which they would not fail to make 
good use. A commission was therefore appointed 
to investigate the matter, and a report was presently 
sent in by it that the charges were very grave. In 



70 CAPE COLONY FROM lyOO TO I750. 

consequence the governor, the officer next in rank, 
the clergyman of Capetown, and the landdrost of 
Stellenbosch were suspended from duty and ordered 
to return to Europe to undergo a trial. The colonists 
sent delegates home to maintain their charges, and 
the result was that the offending officials were all 
dismissed from the service and Wilhem Adrian van 
der Stel's farm was confiscated. 

From the documents connected with this case the 
views of the directors and of the colonists concerning 
the government of the country and the rights of its 
people can be gathered with great precision. The 
directors desired to have a large body of freemen 
living in comfort, loyal to the fatherland, ready and 
willing to assist in the defence of the colony if 
attacked, enjoying the same rights as their equals 
in Europe, and not differing much from each other 
in rank or position. They issued orders that no 
official, from the highest to the lowest, was to own 
or lease a tract of land larger than a garden, or to 
trade in any way in corn, w^ine, or cattle. The 
burghers were to be governed in accordance with 
law and justice. 

On their part, the colonists claimed exactly the 
same rights as if they w^ere still living in the Nether- 
lands. They expressed no wish for a change in the 
form of government, what they desired being merely 
that the control of affairs should be placed in honest 
hands. In their opinion they forfeited nothing by 
removal to South Africa, and the violence displayed 
by the governor towards Adam Tas and his associates 
was as outrageous as if it had taken place in the city 



FIRST OUTBREAK OF SMALL-POX. 71 

of Amsterdam. They asserted their undoubted right 
to personal liberty, to exemption from arrest unless 
under reasonable suspicion of crime, to admission to 
bail, to speedy trial before a proper court of justice, 
to freedom to sell to any one, burgher or foreigner, 
except under special circumstances when restriction 
was needed for the good of the community, whatever 
their land produced, after the tithes had been paid 
and the Company's needs had been supplied. And 
these claims, made in as explicit terms as they could 
be to-day by an Englishman living in a crown colony, 
were not challenged by the directors or even the 
partisans of the late governor, but were accepted by 
every one as unquestioned. 

In 1 7 10 the island of Mauritius was abandoned 
by the Dutch East India Company, the directors 
having come to the conclusion that it was not worth 
the cost of maintaining a large garrison, and that 
with a small garrison it was not secure. A few 
colonists who were there had the choice of removal 
to South Africa or to Java, and nine families elected 
to come to this country. A few months later the 
French took possession of the island, and under 
them it soon became a place of importance. 

In 17 1 3 a terrible evil came upon the country. 
In March of that year the small-pox made its first 
appearance in South Africa. It was introduced by 
means of some clothing belonging to ships' people 
who had been ill on the passage from India, but 
who had recovered before they reached Table Bay. 
This clothing was sent to be washed at the Com- 
pany's slave lodge, and the women who handled it 



>j2 CAPE COLONY FROM I7OO TO I750. 

were the first to be smitten. The Company had at 
the time about five hundred and seventy slaves of 
both sexes and all ages, nearly two hundred of whom 
were carried off within the next six months. 

From the slaves the disease spread to the Euro- 
peans and the natives. In May and June there was 
hardly a family in the town that had not some one 
sick or dead. Traffic in the streets was suspended, 
and even the children ceased to play their usual 
games in the squares and open places. At last it 
was impossible to obtain nurses, though slave women 
were being paid at the rate of four and five shillings 
a day. All the planks in the stores were used, and 
in July it became necessary to bury the dead without 
coffins. During that dreadful winter nearly one- 
fourth of the European inhabitants of the town 
perished, and only when the hot weather set in did 
the plague cease. 

The disease spread into the country, but there the 
proportion of white people that perished was not so 
large as in the town. It was easier to keep from 
contact with sick persons. Some families living in 
secluded places were quite shut off from the rest of 
the colony, and the farmers in general avoided moving 
about. 

The death rate among the free blacks was very 
high, but it was among the Hottentots that it 
reached its maximum. Whole kraals in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Cape peninsula disappeared with- 
out leaving a single representative. The unfortunate 
clans when attacked, believing that they were be- 
witched, gave way to despair, and made no effort 



FIRST OUTBREAK OF SMALL-POX. 73 

to save themselves. The beachrangers in Table 
Valley did not even remove the dead from their 
huts, but sat down and awaited their own turn 
without a gleam of hope. 

When the disease ceased there were only dejected 
remnants left of the old tribes of the Hessequa, 
Chainouqua, Goringhaiqua, Cochoqua, and Grigri- 
qua. Beyond them it had not spread. After this 
date these tribal titles are not found in official records 
or accounts by travellers, and the Hottentot clans 
that remained within a hundred miles of the castle 
ceased to be regarded as of any importance. They 
continued as before to be governed by their own 
chiefs without interference from the European 
authorities except when they committed crimes 
against white people or slaves, there were reserves 
specially set apart for their use, and they were at 
liberty to roam over any land not occupied by 
colonists ; but they were without influence or power, 
and their friendship was no longer courted nor 
their enmity feared. 

It does not appear that the Bushmen suffered from 
the small-pox, for by some chance they did not come 
into contact with other people while it was prevalent. 
In general there was war between them and the 
colonists. As the game was destroyed or retreated, 
they turned to the oxen and sheep of the graziers 
for sustenance, and it was then a matter of necessity 
to expel them from their haunts. They would not, 
or could not, accommodate themselves to the new 
order of things that was growing up around them, 
and therefore they were doomed to perish. But the 



74 CAPE COLONY FROM 1700 TO I750. 

struggle was a severe one, and there were times 
when it almost seemed as if the wild people would 
be able to turn back the wave of colonisation that 
was spreading over the country. They managed to 
inflict heavy losses upon the Europeans by burning 
houses and driving off cattle, and occasionally a man 
or a woman died from the poison of their arrows ; 
but in the long run the combined action of the 
farmers and the superiority of the flintlock over the 
bow decided the question against them. 

In 1 72 1 the Company established a station at 
Delagoa Bay, with the object of opening up a trade 
along the eastern coast. This station was a de- 
pendency of the Cape government, just as Mauri- 
tius had been. But the place proved exceedingly 
unhealthy, and the trade in gold, ivory, copper, and 
slaves was very much smaller than had been antici- 
pated. On one occasion also the factory was sur- 
prised and plundered by pirates. Attempts were 
repeatedly made to explore the country and find the 
place from which a little alluvial gold was brought 
by occasional black visitors, but the parties sent out 
never succeeded in getting beyond the Lebombo 
mountains, as either fever attacked them or hostile 
natives barred the way. In every respect the station 
was a failure, and, therefore, after maintaining it for 
nearly ten years at a great sacrifice of life and money, 
the Company abandoned it. 

After the punishment inflicted upon Wilhem 
Adrian van der Stel and his associates, the govern- 
ment of the Cape Colony was conducted for nearly 
three-quarters of a century in a fairly honest manner, 



SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION, 75 

and no complaint of tyranny or oppression was made 
by the people. The system of administration, indeed, 
opened a door to abuses that in the same form would 
not be tolerated now, and they were certainly of a 
grave nature. Thus a perquisite of the storekeeper 
was to buy at one rate of exchange of silver money 
and to sell at another rate, by which he gained a 
commission of nearly eightpence in the pound. The 
victualler was allowed to require a few pounds over- 
weight in every bag of grain that the Company 
purchased from a farmer, and to place the surplus 
to his own credit. The police magistrate, as his 
perquisite, kept half the fines which he inflicted for 
contravention of simple regulations as well as for 
crimes. The governor himself and the officer second 
in rank had as perquisites a fixed sum deducted from 
the purchase amount of every cask of wine brought 
to the Company's stores. 

But as this was the established order of things, the 
colonists submitted to it without complaint. Some- 
times they grumbled about bad seasons, or the 
destruction of their crops by locusts, or the low 
prices given for farm produce ; and cattle diseases 
of one kind or other often caused them much loss. 
When foreign vessels were in Table Bay, too, there 
was always much dissatisfaction if the Company 
required anything that was saleable at a large profit. 
There was never any distress, however, through want 
of the necessaries of life, nor was there any inter 
Terence by the government with the recognised rights 
of the people. 

Experiments in the cultivation of various plants 



76 CAPE COLONY FROM 170O TO I75O. 

were frequently made by order of the directors, in 
the hope of finding something beside wheat and wine 
that would pay the farmers to grow and the Company 
to export. The oHve was tried again and again, but 
always without success. Tobacco, indigo, and flax 
were also fruitlessly experimented with. Great expec- 
tations were once raised by the production of eight 
pounds of raw silk, but that also proved a failure, as 
the returns were so trifling that people would have 
nothing to do with it. 

In the winter season Table Bay was unsafe, being 
exposed to the fury of north-west gales, and the 
Company had often sustained heavy losses by ship- 
wreck there. Thus, in a terrible gale during the 
night of the i6th of June 1722 seven Dutch and 
three English vessels were driven ashore, and six 
hundred and sixty men were drowned. On this 
occasion property valued at nearly ;^2 50,000 was 
destroyed. And on the 21st of May 1737 nine 
vessels belonging to the Company were wrecked, and 
two hundred and eight lives were lost. The cost 
price of the cargo alone which was strewn on the 
beach was ^160,000. 

These and many other disasters caused the 
directors to issue orders that a mole should be 
constructed in Table Bay, so as to form a safe 
harbour, and in the meantime their ships were to 
refresh at Simon's Bay from the 15th of May to the 
15th of August, the season when gales from the 
north-west are common. Simon's Bay offered secure 
shelter during the winter season, but there was a 
drawback to its use in difficulty of access by land, 



EFFORT TO IMPROVE TABLE BAY. J J 

which made the supplying a ship with fresh provisions 
very expensive. In 1742 it was first used as a port 
of call. A village then sprang up on its southern 
shore, which received the name Simonstown. 

The mole in Table Bay was commenced in 
February 1743. As it was held to be a work of 
importance to the colony as well as to the Company, 
a tax was levied upon all the white people in the 
settlement. Those in the Cape peninsula were 
assessed at the labour of one hundred and fifty-three 
stout slaves for two months in the year, and those in 
the country at ;^293 in money or provisions. All 
the Company's slaves and all the waggons and cattle 
that could be spared from other work were employed 
upon the mole. A strong gang of convicts was sent 
from Batavia to assist in its construction. By the 
close of 1746 it was three hundred and fifty-one feet 
in length from the shore, but the work was then 
stopped. The convicts from Java had nearly all died 
from change of climate and excessive fatigue, and 
the burghers declared that they could not pay their 
quota any longen The expense was found to be 
beyond the means of the Company, though it was 
believed that if the work could be completed Table 
Bay would be a perfectly safe harbour. The base of 
the mole is still to be seen like a reef running out 
from the shore, and its site is called Mouille Point 
on that account to the present day. 

By this time the settlement extended so far that 
it was considered necessary to provide two more 
churches in the parts most thickly populated and a 
court of justice for the colonists on the frontier. In 



GROWTH OF THE SETTLEMENT. 79 

1743 a clergyman was stationed at Roodezand, now 
the village of Tulbagh, and a church was established 
there. Two years later a clergyman and a schpol- 
master were appointed to Zwartland, and went to 
reside at the warm bath, the site of the present 
village of Malmesbury. In 1745 a landdrost was 
stationed at a place thereafter known as the village 
of Swellendam, and a board of heemraden was ap- 
pointed, just as at Stellenbosch. A dividing line was 
laid down between the districts of Stellenbosch and 
Swellendam, and also between the Cape and Stellen- 
bosch, but on the north and the east the boundary 
was declared to be " where the power of the honour- 
able Company ends." 




VIII. 



COURSE OF EVENTS IN THE CAPE COLONY FROM 
1750 TO 1785. 

From 175 i to 1771 the colony was governed by 
Ryk Tulbagh, a man of very high moral character 
and considerable ability, who had risen by merit 
alone from the humblest position in the Company's 
service. Though two great troubles fell upon the 
country within this period, it was always regarded by 
the old colonists as the brightest time during Dutch 
rule in South Africa. The governor was firm, but 
just and benevolent, and was so beloved that he was 
commonly called Father Tulbagh. 

One of the troubles referred to was an outbreak of 
small-pox, that terrible scourge having been intro- 
duced at the beginning of the winter of 1755 by a 
homeward-bound fleet from Ceylon. At first it was 
supposed to be a kind of fever, but after a few days 
there were cases that admitted of no doubt. It 
assumed, however, various forms, and among some of 
the distant Hottentot tribes differed in appearance so 
much from what was held to be true small-pox that 

the Europeans termed it gall sickness. 

80 



SECOND OUTBREAK OF SMALL-POX. 8l 

In Capetown hardly a single adult who was 
attacked recovered. In July the weather was colder 
than usual, and during that month over eleven 
hundred persons perished. If that death rate had 
continued, before the close of the year there would 
have been no one left, but as soon as the warm 
weather set in the disease became milder. Two great 
hospitals were opened : one for poor Europeans, 
supported by church funds, the other for blacks. To 
the latter all slaves who were attacked were sent, the 
expense being borne by their owners. Those who 
recovered were employed as nurses. In Capetown 
from the beginning of May to the end of October 
nine hundred and sixty-three Europeans and eleven 
hundred and nine blacks died. 

In the country the white people did not suffer very 
severely, as they kept so secluded on their farms that 
for several months hardly a waggon load of produce 
was taken to town for sale. The government excused 
the muster of the burghers for drill, and even the 
services in the churches were not attended by people 
from a distance. 

With the Hottentot tribes that escaped on the 
former occasion the disease created fearful havoc. 
Not one was left unscathed, except the Korana along 
the Orange and its branches. On the coast north- 
ward to Walfish Bay and eastward until Bantu were 
reached, the tribes as such were utterly destroyed. 
The individuals that remained were thereafter 
blended together under the general name of Hot- 
tentots, and their old distinguishing titles became 
lost even among themselves. 

7 



82 CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO 1785. 

How far the disease extended among the Bantu 
cannot be stated with certainty. These people had 
pushed their outposts as far westward as the Keis- 
kama, and at least one Hottentot tribe — the Damaqua 
— had been incorporated by them, while another — 
the Gonaqua — was beginning to be assimilated. 
According to Tembu traditions the territory between 
the Kel and the Bashee was almost depopulated by 
the small-pox, and the clans between the Kei and 
the Keiskama must have suffered severely, but to 
what extent those beyond the Bashee were affected 
is not known. 

The other trouble was a depression in the price of 
agricultural produce, especially of wine, that brought 
the colonists to the verge of bankruptcy. The 
Company had been in the habit of purchasing a 
considerable quantity of wine for sale and consump- 
tion in India, where it was served out instead of 
spirits to the soldiers and sailors, but so many com.- 
plaints were made about its quality that in 1755 its 
use there was nearly abandoned. By some chance 
just at this time very few foreign ships put into Table 
Bay, so that the market was glutted with produce for 
which there was no demand. Prices fell lower than 
had ever been known before, and the farmers saw 
nothing but ruin before them. 

But South Africa has always been a country of 
sudden reversions from adversity. In this instance 
matters were at their worst when in December 1758 
a large fleet of French men-of-war and transports 
with troops arrived from Mauritius, purposely to 
refresh and lay in a supply of provisions. At once 



EXPLORATION OF NAMAQUALAND. 83 

the price of produce doubled or trebled, and all the 
surplus stock was disposed of. There was then war 
between Great Britain and France, and the repre- 
sentatives of both nations in India soon came to 
look upon the Cape Colony as a convenient source 
of supply. The officers of French packets from 
Mauritius and of English packets from St. Helena 
bid against each other in Capetown for cattle and 
meal and wine, so that until March 1763, when 
tidings of the conclusion of peace were received, the 
farmers enjoyed unusual prosperity. 

During Mr. Tulbagh's administration some pre- 
viously unexplored parts of the country were care- 
fully examined. One expedition travelled along the 
coast eastward to the Kei, and in returning kept as 
close as possible to the foot of the Amatola mountains 
and the Winterberg. West of the Tyumie river this 
party found no inhabitants except Bushmen. A 
botanist who was with the expedition brought back 
many specimens of plants then strange to Europeans, 
which he afterwards cultivated in the garden in Cape- 
town. Another exploring party made its way far 
into Great Namaqualand. Among its spoils was the 
skin of a giraffe, an animal that never roamed south 
of the Orange river, and consequently was unknown 
to the colonists. The skin was sent by Governor 
Tulbagh to the museum of Leiden, together with 
many specimens of the animals and plants of South 
Africa. 

Capetown at this time contained six or seven 
thousand inhabitants, rather more than half of whom 
were slaves. It had but one church building, but 



VILLAGES IN THE COLONY. 85 

there were three clergymen. The houses were com- 
modious, though commonly but one story in height. 
In front of each was an elevated terrace, called a 
stoep, on which the inhabitants lounged in the 
evenings. In the principal streets were miniature 
canals, that served for drainage purposes, and along 
which were rows of trees as in the Netherlands. 
The town was patrolled at night by a burgher 
watch. The watchhouse, built while Mr. Tulbagh 
was governor, is still standing, and now serves as 
municipal offices. 

The village of Stellenbosch had grown to be a very 
pretty place, and was quite embowered with oak trees 
and rose hedges. It was a custom for old people to 
live there, so as to be near the church and to provide 
homes for their grandchildren attending school, while 
men and women in the prime of life were occupied in 
their vineyards or on their farms. 

Simonstown contained several large buildings be- 
longing to the Company, but had not many private 
residences of much importance. Most of the families, 
indeed, moved to Capetown for the summer, and the 
place was then almost deserted. 

Swellendam and Paarl were mere hamlets, con- 
sisting of large gardens, orchards, and vineyards 
along a single street. Both were in charming 
situations as far as scenery was concerned, and their 
beauty was increased by a row of oak trees on each 
side of the road. Swellendam had no clergyman, 
but was provided with a school, and the teacher 
conducted religious services. Its most prominent 
building was the drostdy, as the courthouse and 



86 CAPE COLONY FROM I750 TO 1785. 

residence of the landdrost was termed. The clergy- 
man of the Drakenstein congregation resided at 
Paarl, and the church building was there. The 
hamlet had a school, but no courthouse, as it was 
within the magistracy of Stellenbosch. 

While Mr. Tulbagh was governor the colonists 
spread out eastward to the Little Fish river and 
northward to the head waters of many of the streams 
that flow into the Orange. They did not indeed 
occupy one-tenth of all the land embraced within 
these limits, but they took possession of the choicest 
spots for grazing cattle, and went beyond extensive 
tracts that were less suited to their needs. 

Governor Tulbagh died in 1 771. His successor, 
Mr. Joachim van Plettenberg, was a man of very 
different character. He was not devoted to money 
making like Wilhem Adrian van der Stel, but he 
allowed his subordinates to do what they pleased, 
and many of them were not ashamed to resort to 
nefarious practices to increase their possessions. In 
consequence the residents in Capetown and the 
burghers who lived by agriculture were soon in 
a state of unrest. The graziers, who seldom came 
in contact with an official, were much less subject to 
oppressive treatment, and in general did not concern 
themselves much with what went on at the seat of 
government. 

In 1778 the governor made a tour through the 
colony. On the Zeekoe river, near the present 
village of Colesberg, he set up a beacon to mark the 
extent of his journey and the north-eastern limit of 
the colony. When returning to Capetown by another 



TOUR OF GOVERNOR VAN PLETTENBERG. 87 

route, he inspected the bay which still bears his 
name, and caused another beacon to be erected there. 
At Willem Prinsloo's farm on the Little Fish river, 
the site of the present village of Somerset East, the 
governor stayed several days. There the frontier 
graziers and hunters assembled to meet him and 
make him acquainted with their condition and wants. 
Their principal requests were very commendable, for 
what they desired most earnestly was that a magis- 
trate and a clergyman might be stationed with them. 
The governor forwarded a report of this interview to 
the directors, with a recommendation that the desires 
of the frontiersmen should be complied with. The 
result was that in 1786 a landdrost — as head of a new 
district — was stationed at a place which received the 
name Graaff-Reinet, and soon afterwards a clerg}^man 
went to reside there. 

From Prinsloo's farm Governor Van Plettenberg 
sent messengers to invite the nearest Bantu chiefs to 
visit him. The Bantu tribe farthest in advance was 
the Kosa, and some of its clans were then living on 
the Tyumie and Kat rivers, while nearer the sea the 
remnant of the Gonaqua tribe of Hottentots, whose 
territory was between the Fish river and the Keis- 
kama, had by mixture of blood become practically 
incorporated with it. Several of the chiefs accepted 
the governor's invitation, and a friendly conference 
took place, at which it was arranged that the lower 
course of the Fish river should be a dividing line 
between the Bantu and the Europeans. In Novem- 
ber 1780 this agreement was formally sanctioned by 
the council, and thereafter for many years the lower 



88 CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO 1785. 

Fish river was regarded as the eastern boundary of 
the colony. 

On the northern border the struggle between the 
colonists and the Bushmen was incessant. The wild 
people had been obliged to retire before the ad- 
vancing wave of colonisation, and they seemed now 
to be massed in the mountains bordering the great 
plain south of the Orange river, while the graziers 
were scattered over the choicest pastures along the 
same range. Horned cattle, sheep, and goats were 
driven off in hundreds together, the herdsmen were 
murdered, and from several places the Europeans 
were obliged to retire. In May 1774 a commandant 
was appointed for the northern border, and a plan 
was made to eject the Bushmen from their strong- 
holds and restore the farmers to the places from 
which they had been driven. 

At the beginning of summer a combined force of 
burghers, half-breeds, and Hottentots, in three divi- 
sions acting in concert, took the field. The country 
for more than three hundred miles along the great 
mountain range was scoured, and all the Bushmen 
found who would not surrender were shot. Accord- . 
ing to the reports furnished to the government, five 
hundred and three were killed and two hundred and 
thirty-nine taken prisoners. Some of these were 
afterwards released, and others were bound to the 
farmers for a term of years. 

It was hoped that this punishment would deter the 
Bushmen from thieving, but it had no such effect 
They became even more troublesome than before, and 
it was with difficulty that the graziers held their own. 



FIRST KAFFIR WAR, 89 

Another enemy also had now to be reckoned with, 
for the extension of the settlement had brought the 
Europeans face to face with the Kosas, a people who 
might be called civilised when compared with Bush- 
men, but who were almost as expert stock-lifters. 
The arrangement made by Governor Van Plettenberg 
and the chiefs who met him at Prinsloo's farm was 
not observed for a single year. In 1779 several Kosa 
clans crossed the Fish river and spread themselves 
over the present districts of Albany and Bathurst. 
They said they did not want to quarrel with the 
Europeans, and to prove the truth of their assertions 
they murdered a number of Hottentots and took 
their catt.le, without molesting the colonists. But 
shortly they began to drive off the herds of the 
white people also, and in September 1779 the far- 
mers of the invaded districts, together with those 
along the right bank of the Bushman's river, were 
obliged to withdraw to a place of safety. 

Two commandos took the field against the intru- 
ders. The Kosas were attacked and defeated on 
several occasions, but they were not entirely driven 
to their own side of the Fish river. In the winter 
those who were supposed to have been subdued 
crossed again into the colony, together with many 
others, and it became evident that a grand effort 
must be made to expel them. 

The government then appointed a farmer named 
Adrian van Jaarsveld commandant of the eastern 
frontier. He gave the Kosas notice that they must 
retire at once, or he would shoot them. One of the 
clans thought it prudent to remove, and was therefore 



90 CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO I785. 

not molested, but the others remained where they 
were. 

The commandant thereupon collected all the 
European and Hottentot families of the frontier in 
a couple of lagers formed by drawing up waggons 
in a circle and filling the spaces between the wheels 
with thorn trees. Leaving a few men to defend 
these camps, with ninety-two burghers and forty 
Hottentots, all mounted and well armed, he fell upon 
the Kosas and smote them hip and thigh. He was 
in the field less than two months, and when he dis- 
banded his force there was not a Kosa west of the 
Fish river, and the first Kaffir war was over. 

While the colony was in a state of disaffection and 
confusion, owing to misgovernment and strife with 
barbarians, tidings were received — March 1781 — that 
Great Britain had declared war against the Nether- 
lands, and that the republic was in alliance with 
France. The East India Company at this time was 
declining in prosperity, and was unable to maintain a 
large garrison in this country, where its yearly outlay 
was greater by about ;^25,ooo than its income. 
Practically, therefore, Capetown was almost defence- 
less, and Great Britain had cast a covetous eye upon 
it as a half-way station to the great empire she was 
building up in Hindostan. 

As soon as war was proclaimed, an Lnglish fleet 
with a strong body of troops was despatched under 
Commodore George Johnstone to seize the colony, 
but the object of the expedition was made known to 
the French government by a spy, and a squadron 
was hastily fitted out to thwart it. Pierre Andr6 de 



ARRIVAL OF FRENCH TROOPS. QI 

Suffren, in later years vice-admiral of France, was in 
command of the French ships. 

Commodore Johnstone put into Porto Praya to 
take in a supply of fresh water, and anchored without 
any arrangements for defence, as he believed his 
destination was unknown to every one except the 
British government and himself. One of Suffren's 
ships was also in want of water, so he too steered for 
Porto Praya, and not expecting to find the Enghsh 
fleet there, made no preparations for action. Upon 
rounding a point of land he caught sight of his 
opponent, and in his ardour pressed on with only half 
his ships to secure the advantage of surprise. 

A sharp action followed, which ended by the 
French being beaten off, but some of the English 
ships were badly damaged. Suffren now pressed on 
under all the sail his vessels could carry, and upon 
his arrival at the Cape landed a strong body of 
French troops, who speedily made the peninsula 
secure against attack. 

As soon as his fleet was refitted Johnstone followed, 
but learning the condition of things from the crew of 
a prize, he made no attempt upon the colony. He 
inflicted great damage upon the East India Com- 
pany, however, by seizing several richly-laden India- 
men that were waiting in Saldanha Bay for men-of- 
war to escort them homeward. 

To the great losses sustained during this war the 
bankruptcy of the Company has usually been attri- 
buted, but it may be doubted whether the corruption 
of its officials in the Indian islands had not as much 
to do with its downfall. As far as South African 



92 CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO 1785. 

history is concerned, the cause is immaterial, the fact 
remains that the government of the Cape Colony 
now found itself unable to meet the calls upon it. It 
tried to borrow money on interest, but did not succeed 
in getting as much as it needed, and it then issued 
paper notes without any security excepting a promise 
to pay when possible, at the same time declaring 
these notes a legal tender for payment of debts. 
Some of them were redeemed a few years later, but 
others were afterwards issued, and then gold and 
silver disappeared from circulation and unsecured 
paper took their place. 

The disaffection of the colonists in the vicinity 
of Capetown towards the government of Mr. Van 
Plettenberg was openly and fearlessly shown. In 
1779 they sent four delegates to Holland to represent 
their grievances and endeavour to obtain redress. 
And now for the first time the burghers asked to be 
represented in the government, for they had been 
told by travellers of the events that had taken place 
on the other side of the Atlantic, and had begun to 
apply to themselves the political doctrines which the 
young republic was teaching. They asked also for 
free trade with the mother country and its eastern 
dependencies, and liberty to sell their produce to 
foreigners without a license from the fiscal, as the 
chief law officer of the colony was termed. The 
practice of requiring a license had grown from a 
simple quarantine regulation to a source of great 
oppression, as the fiscal would do nothing unless he 
was heavily bribed. Many of the officials were openly 
keeping shops, and the burghers asked that this 



COMPLAINTS OF THE COLONISTS. 93 

should be prohibited. Besides these they had several 
other grievances, most of which, however, can be 
summed up that they desired closer connection with 
Holland and less dependence upon Batavia. 

But matters in the Netherlands were not as they 
had been in the time of Wilhem Adrian van der 
Stel. Then the East India Company was prosperous, 
and had many enemies always attacking it and bring- 
ing its transactions to light, so that there was a 
guarantee for the good government of its possessions. 
Now the Company was tottering to its fall, and men 
of all shades of opinion were doing their utmost to 
prop it up, as its crash might ruin the state. The 
directors, therefore, did not enter with alacrity into 
the unpleasant matter brought before them, though 
they appointed a committee to investigate the com- 
plaints. This committee sent copies of all the docu- 
ments received from the delegates to the officials in 
the colony to report upon, and awaited the replies 
without doing anything further. The officials natu- 
rally tried to put their case in as good a light as 
possible, and the war gave them ample time for con- 
sideration. 

Thus four full years elapsed before the committee 
sent in a report, and then it was to the effect that the 
charges had not been proved. Almost the only relief 
recommended was that the high court of justice 
should consist of an equal number of officials and of 
burghers. The directors adopted this report, and 
thus the efforts of the burghers to obtain redress were 
so far a failure. 

At this time the colonists were thriving, and it was 



94 CAPE COLONY FROM I750 TO I785. 

supposed by the directors that they would not make 
much effort to disturb an order of things in which 
money was easily made. There had never before 
been such a demand for produce as that created by 
the large garrison and the French forces in the East. 
The Company's needs were very small during the 
war and for some time afterwards, so that Httle was 
taken at low prices. Many new trading houses had 
been opened by burghers. In Capetown there was 
a display of prosperity which astonished strangers. 
European and Indian wares in the greatest variety 
were introduced in large quantities by Danish ships, 
and though the prices asked were very high, they 
commanded a ready sale. 

But the burghers of South Africa, though relishing 
keenly the pleasure of making money, have at every 
period of their history shown a firmer attachment to 
what they hold to be their political rights and liber- 
ties. If at times a few men have been found to 
waver between money and freedom from misrule, the 
women have never hesitated to reject wealth at the 
price of submission to wrong. On this occasion 
neither men nor women were disposed .to let the 
question rest. The government resorted to various 
petty acts of tyranny, but the party opposed to it grew 
in strength, and resolved now to appeal to the states- 
general. 

The delegates were still in Holland, so documents 
were sent to them from the colony to be laid before 
the supreme authority of the republic. But as the 
directors now announced that they intended to 
replace the principal officials with other men, and to 



AGITATION IN THE COLONY. 



95 



make a few small changes in the system of govern- 
ment and of carrying on trade, the states general 
declined to take up the cause of the burghers until 
the effect could be seen. The colonists sent home 
other delegates to push their case, but these quarrelled 
with each other, and could therefore effect nothing. 
The agitation in South Africa did not cease, however, 
until the rule of the East India Company came to an 
end. 




IX. 



THE END OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY S RULE 
IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

Though the condition of the East India Company 
was that of hopeless insolvency, as was afterwards 
seen, the directors managed to obtain large sums of 
money on loan, and among other expensive projects 
they resolved to fortify the Cape peninsula so that 
it should not again tempt an invader. With the 
consent of the states-general they sent out as 
governor an engineer officer named Cornells Jacob 
van de Graaff, in order that he might direct the work, 
and they stationed here a large body of mercenary 
troops, chiefly German and Swiss regiments in their 
pay. 

Colonel Van de Graaff took as little trouble to 
restrain the officials from acting unjustly as his pre- 
decessor had taken, and the new men were soon 
as corrupt as the old. They all knew that the end^ 
of the Company was at hand. Most of them were 
trying to make as much money as they could before 
the final crash, no matter by what means, and the 
governor, though free of that vice, had no scruple in 

96 



RECKLESS EXPENDITURE. 97 

squandering the property entrusted to his care. No 
one at the Cape had ever before Hved in such style. 
The horses, carriages, and servants at his town and 
country houses would have sufficed for the governor- 
general of India. There was reckless waste in every- 
thing that he took in hand. The public expenditure 
was made to exceed the revenue by nearly ;^92,ooo 
a year, and though much of this was expended on 
military works, more was utterly thrown away. 

In 1790 the money borrowed by the Company was 
exhausted, and as it was impossible to raise another 
loan, an immediate and great reduction of expendi- 
ture was unavoidable. The spendthrift governor was 
recalled, military works of every kind were stopped, 
and nearly the whole of the troops were sent to 
India. 

The states-general now appointed a commission 
to examine the Company's affairs and report upon 
them, with the result that a supreme effort was made 
to prevent a collapse. Two men of ability — Messrs. 
Nederburgh and Frykenius — were sent to South 
Africa and India with power to reform abuses, 
increase revenue, and reduce expenditure. In June 
1792 they arrived at the Cape and assumed control 
of affairs. 

By increasing some of the old taxes and imposing 
new ones, the commissioners raised the revenue to 
rather over ^^30,000 a year. The white people in 
South Africa of all ages at this time were about fifteen 
thousand in number, so that on an average each paid 
£2 a year to the government. With this increase of 
revenue, and by reducing expenses in every way that 

8 



98 END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 

seemed possible, the balance of loss to the Company 
was brought down to ^,'27,000 a year. 

Distress, consequent upon the reduction of the 
garrison and an almost total cessation of trade, was 
now general. Professedly to relieve it, and at the 
same time to increase the revenue, the commissioners 
established a loan bank in connection with the 
government. Paper was stamped to represent 
different sums, amounting in all to ;^i 35,000, was 
declared a legal tender, and was issued through the 
bank to applicants at six per cent, interest on good 
security. By this means relief from pressure of debt 
was obtained by many landowners ; but the effect of 
adding such an amount to the cartoon money already 
in circulation, with no gold to redeem it, was highly 
disastrous. 

The commissioners redressed a few of the 
grievances of which the burghers complained, but 
they made no change in the form of government. 
They fixed the price at which the Company could 
demand as much wheat as it needed at about five 
shillings the hundred pounds, and gave the colonists 
permission to export the surplus to India or the 
Netherlands, provided it was sent in Dutch ships. 
They also threw open the trade in slaves with Mada- 
gascar and the east coast of Africa. At the same 
time they forbade the landing of any goods whatever 
from foreign vessels. Trade with strangers was 
restricted to the sale of provisions for money, un- 
less special permission was first obtained from the 
government. 

Against this order the residents in Capetown pro- 



SECOND KAFFIR WAR. 99 

tested in the strongest language. "We live from 
God and the foreigners," they said, " and if the trade 
is stopped we must perish." The commissioners 
declined to cancel the regulation, but they were at 
length induced to suspend it for three years, which, 
as events turned out, amounted to the same thing. 

The graziers on the eastern frontier were in as 
great trouble as the residents of Capetown. A 
powerful Kosa chief had recently died, leaving as his 
heir a boy of tender years, named Gaika. The coun- 
cillors of the tribe selected Ndlambe, an uncle of the 
lad, as regent, but some of the clans refused to sub- 
mit to him, and in March 1789 they suddenl}^ crossed 
the Fish river into the colony. The farmers fled 
before them, but were unable to save the whole of 
their cattle. The landdrost of Graaff-Reinet then 
called the burghers of the district to arms, and sent 
an express to Capetown with a request that the 
government would assist him with a hundred 
soldiers. 

The government decided that war with the Kosas 
must be avoided at any cost. A commission was 
appointed to induce them to make peace, and was 
plainly instructed to purchase their good will. In 
the meantime the burghers had taken the field, when 
the Kosa clans, without waiting to be attacked, fell 
back to the Fish river. They were lying on the 
western bank, and the burghers were approaching, 
when the instructions of the government were 
received by the landdrost. The commando was at 
once discharged. Not a shot had been fired, nor a 
single head of cattle recovered, so the burghers were 



100 END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 

indignant and almost mutinuous when they were 
required to disband. 

The commission then sought an interview with the 
Kosa chiefs, and tried by means of large presents and 
smooth words to induce them to retire to their own 
country ; but as this did not succeed, an arrangement 
was made that they might occupy the land between 
the Fish river and the Kowie during good behaviour. 
Of course they attributed such a concession to the 
weakness of the white people, and in a short time 
they sent out parties to steal cattle far and wide. 
This condition of things lasted four years, until May 
1793, when a reprisal was made upon a kraal by a 
party of farmers. The clans in the colony were then 
joined by many of their tribe beyond the Fish 
river, all eager for plunder, and in a very short time 
they spread over the whole of the coast lands as far 
as the Zwartkops river, burning the houses, driving 
off the cattle, and murdering all the farmers that fell 
in their way. 

There were fully six thousand warriors west of the 
Fish river, and over sixty-five thousand head of 
cattle, taken from colonists, had been driven across 
that stream. The government therefore had no 
option, but was obliged to call out the burghers of 
Swellendam, and attempt to drive the intruders back 
and recover the booty. The control of operations, 
however, was entrusted to a man who professed to 
believe in the guilelessness of children of nature 
and who had more sympathy with the Kosas than 
with the Europeans, so that the campaign ended in 
utter failure. The commandant then managed to 



CHURCHES IN THE COLONY. 101 

» 
get the chiefs to promise that they would live in 
peace with the white people, and upon this the 
government declared the second Kaffir war at an 
end. 

The burghers were naturally dissatisfied, but the 
government took no notice of their request that some 
one in whom they could have confidence should be 
placed in command, and the war be prosecuted until 
the intruders were expelled from the colony. They 
were obliged to disperse, and they did so in a spirit 
which needed very little provocation to induce a 
revolt against the East India Company. 

The Dutch reformed still continued to be the state 
church, but it was not now the only one in the 
colony. In 1780 the Lutherans were permitted to 
have a clergyman in Capetown, and in 1792 the 
Moravians founded the mission station Genadendal 
for the benefit of the Hottentots. This society had 
sent an evangelist to South Africa many years before, 
and he had met with nothing but kindness until he 
baptized some converts, when the government inter- 
fered, as in its opinion religious strife would follow 
the creation of a rival church. Now, however, more 
liberal views were entertained, and the Moravian 
clergymen met with hearty encouragement 

A great change was taking place in the Dutcn 
reformed church itself, by the introduction of the 
teaching usually termed evangelical. The reverend 
Helperus Ritzema van Lier, a correspondent of the 
reverend John Newton, of Olney, and who was 
imbued with the same spirit as that celebrated 
clergyman, created almost a revolution in Capetown. 



102 END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 



For the cold formal services of two or three hours' 
length, which constituted the principal duty of the 
earlier ministers, he substituted shorter sermons and 
prayers, more visitation of parishioners, frequent 
meetings for religious purposes, and incitement to 
acts of benevolence and charity. At this date 
mission work among the heathen was commenced by 




CHURCH OF LAST CENTURY IN CAPETOWN. 
{From a Sketch by G. Thonipsoji) 

the colonial church, and it has ever since gone on 
increasing in volume. At this time also the philan- 
thropic labours of a band of ladies in Capetown 
began, which resulted a {(i\Y 3-ears later in the 
establishment of an orphan asylum, a mission chapel 
and school, and a fund from which to the present 



AFFAIRS IN EUROPE. lOJ 

day aged women in poor circumstances draw weekly 
allowances. The reverend Mr. Vos, ot Tulbagh 
belonged to the same school of thought as Mr. Van 
Lier, and his congregation set an example in mission 
work, which was shortly followed by others in the 
country. 

Western Europe was now in the throes of the 
mightiest convulsion of modern times. France had 
become a republic. The people of the Netherlands 
were divided into two parties, one of which was in 
sympathy with the French, while the other favoured 
a stadtholderate with very large powers and the con- 
tinuance of the alliance with England which had 
existed since 1788. The first was termed the patriot, 
the second the Orange party. An appeal to arms 
was unavoidable, and on the ist of February 1793 a 
declaration of war with Great Britain and the stadt- 
holder's government was issued at Paris. 

Upon tidings of the outbreak of hostilities reaching 
South Africa, the commissioners formed all the clerks 
and junior officers in the civil service into a military 
company, which they termed the pennist corps, and 
they raised a company of half-breeds and Hottentots, 
put them in uniform, and set them to learn to be 
soldiers. This corps was termed the pandours. No 
other means could be devised of strengthening the 
colony. 

Messrs. Nederburgh and Frykenins then appointed 
an old Indian official, named Abraham Josias Sluysken, 
head ot the Cape government, and as soon as he took 
over the duty they proceeded to Java. 

During 1794 the complaints ot the burghers of 



104 E^D OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 

Graaff-Reinet were unceasing with regard to the paper 
money, the stagnation of trade, the new taxes, and, 
above all, the arrangement with the Kosas which the 
authorities termed peace. The landdrost took no 
notice of their statements, so they requested the 
government to recall him, but Mr. Sluysken would 
not even listen to them. By this treatment their 
patience was at length exhausted. 

In February 1795 they expelled the landdrost, 
and set up a republic of their own. No more absurd 
form of government than that which they established 
has ever existed, but it served their purpose. Adrian 
van Jaarsveld was appointed military commander 
of the new state. The burghers declared that they 
were not in rebellion against the Netherlands, but 
that they would be governed by the East India 
Company no longer. Mr. Sluysken had no force to 
send against them, so they had everything their own 
way. 

In June the people of Swellendam followed the 
example of those of Graaff-Reinet. They too expelled 
their landdrost, declared themselves a free republic, 
and elected a governing body which they termed a 
national assembly. In Stellenbosch and in Capetown 
there were many persons who sympathised with these 
movements, though they themselves did not proceed 
to the length of open rebellion. It is highly im- 
probable that the puny states thus called into 
existence could have held their own for any length of 
time, as their commerce could easily be cut off; but, 
on the other hand, the East India Company could 
not establish its authority over the distant colonists 



ARRIVAL OF A BRITISH FORCE. I05 

again. The country was really in a state of 
anarchy. 

The troops in the Cape peninsula consisted of six 
hundred and twenty-eight infantry, four hundred and 
thirty engineers, and two hundred and ten pandours. 
The head of the whole force was Colonel Robert 
Jacob Gordon. The infantry regiment was termed 
the national battalion, though it was composed of 
men of various countries. It was commanded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel De Lille. 

While matters in South Africa were in this condition 
the French were meeting with astonishing success in 
Europe. The winter of 1794-5 was so severe that 
towards the end of January the rivers were frozen 
hard, and their armies crossed into Utrecht and 
Gelderland, compelling the English forces to retire 
to Germany. The patriot party in the Netherlands 
gave them an enthusiastic welcome. The government 
was changed in form, the stadtholder made his escape 
to England in a fishing boat, and the Batavian 
Republic, as the country was now named, entered 
into close alliance with France. 

The British government immediately fitted out 
an expedition to seize the Cape Colony, and in 
hope of facilitating the conquest a mandate was 
obtained from the fugitive stadtholder requiring the 
authorities in Capetown to admit English troops 
into the castle and forts. In June 1795 the 
expedition arrived in Simon's Bay. Admiral 
Elphinstone and Major-General Craig, who were 
in command respectively of the sea and land forces, 
presented the mandate to Mr. Sluysken and the 



FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS. IO7 

council, who were in entire ignorance of recent 
events in Europe. 

With hardly an exception the officials in South 
Africa sympathised with the Orange party, but they 
could not in decency openly obey an order issued in 
a foreign country by a fugitive prince. They therefore 
made many protestations of their duty to their country 
and of their determination to resist an invading force 
to the utmost, but their actions did not correspond 
with their words. There was but one way in which 
they could oppose the British forces with any hope of 
success, and that was by repudiating the East India 
Company and declaring for the patriot faction. The 
colonists, almost to a man, favoured that faction, as 
did the engineer corps and the few Dutch soldiers in 
the national battalion. The toreign soldiers in that 
battalion were disaftected, owing to being paid in 
paper money, and would not fight under any 
circumstances. But, with the engineers, from five 
to six hundred trained men were available, and at 
least two thousand burghers would have responded to 
an appeal to aid the patriot cause. Rather than this, 
however, Sluysken, Gordon, and De Lille were willing 
to let the English get possession of the country. 

A long correspondence with the British officers 
followed, but it ended in nothing. Eighteen days 
after the arriv^al oi the fleet in Simon's Bay the Dutch 
abandoned Simonstown, and concentrated their force 
at Muizenburg, a very strong natural position on the 
road to Capetown. A fortnight later eight hundred 
English soldiers were landed, and were quartered in 
deserted buildings. 



I08 END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE, 

On the 7th of August General Craig, at the head of 
sixteen hundred men, marched from Simonstown to 
attack the Dutch camp at Muizenburg. That position 
could easily have been made impregnable, but little 
or nothing had been done to strengthen it. De Lille, 
who was in command, did not even attempt to defend 
it, but fell back towards Capetown as the English 
approached. He would not resist the friends of the 
prince of Orange, and indeed, shortly afterwards 
entered the English service. Some artillerymen, 
under Lieutenant Marnitz and some burghers made a 
brief stand, but being abandoned by their commander 
and the national battalion, they were driven from 
the post. Besides securing the only obstacle to an 
advance upon Capetown, General Craig thus got 
possession of the greater part of the Dutch military 
stores and of a quantity of provisions, w^hich he much 
needed. Two days later three hundred and fifty 
soldiers arrived from St. Helena to strengthen the 
force under his command. 

Up to this time the burghers believed that the 
government was in earnest in opposing the English, 
and though they had little confidence in the military 
leaders and none at all in the national battalion, 
nearly fifteen hundred of them assembled in arms 
and were eager to defend the country. Even 
Swellendam sent a contingent, for the people there 
knew very well that if the English were masters of 
Capetown their republic would not last long. But 
now a belief began to spread that they were being 
betrayed, and in consequence every day some of 
those in arms left their colours and returned home. 



FEEBLE DEFENCE OF THE COLONY. I09 

On the 4th of September a fleet of English ships 
entered Simon's Bay with three thousand soldiers on 
board, under command of General Sir Alured Clarke. 
Some of them were destined for India, but as matters 
stood, they were all landed and sent on to Muizenburg. 
On the 14th two columns were formed, together 
between four and five thousand strong, and marched 
towards Capetown, sixteen miles distant by the road 
to be followed. 

The Dutch forces, military and burgher, under 
Captain Van Baalen, were stationed at Wynberg, 
half way between Muizenburg and Capetown. Some 
burgher cavalry tried to harass the English troops on 
the march, and succeeded in killing one man and 
wounding seventeen, but the force to which they were 
opposed was too strong to be checked by any efforts 
that they could make. 

Van Baalen drew up his troops as if he meant to 
stand firm, but as soon as the English were within 
range of his guns he retreated with the greater part 
of the national battalion. The burghers cried out 
that they were being betrayed and sold. It was a 
scene of confusion. One company of infantry and 
most of the engineers made a stand for a few minutes, 
and then fled towards Capetown, abandoning the 
camp with everything in it. The burghers, strongly 
impressed with the idea that Mr. Sluysken and 
Colonel Gordon, as well as the officers of the national 
battalion, were traitors at heart, and considering that 
if they fell back to Capetown they would be in a 
trap and must become prisoners of war, dispersed 
and returned to their homes. 



no END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 

The council then sent a messenger to the British 
officers, requesting a suspension of arms in order to 
arrange conditions of surrender, and at midnight 
General Clarke consented to an armistice for twenty- 
four hours. Next morning General Craig met the 
Dutch commissioners — Messrs. Van Ryneveld and 
Le Sueur — at Rondebosch, and after some discussion 
articles of capitulation were agreed to. These provided 
for the surrender of the Dutch troops, but the officers 
were to be at liberty either to remain in Capetown 
or to return to Europe, upon giving their word of 
honour not to serve against England while the war 
lasted. The colonists were to retain all their rights, 
including the existing form of religion. No new 
taxes were to be levied, but the old imposts were 
to be reduced as much as possible. Everything 
belonging to the East India Company was to be 
handed over to the English officers, but all other 
property was to be respected. The lands and buildings 
belonging to the East India Company were to be con- 
sidered as security for the paper money in circulation. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, 
the i6th of September 1795, fourteen hundred British 
soldiers under General Craig arrived at the castle and 
drew up on the open ground in front. The Dutch 
troops marched out with colours flying and drums 
beating, passed by the English, and laid down their 
arms, surrendering as prisoners of war. In the 
evening General Clarke arrived with two thousand 
infantry and a train of artillery. 

Thus ended the rule of the Dutch East India 
Company in South Africa, after an occupation of a 



REVIEW OF THE COMPANY'S RULE. Ill 

little over a hundred and forty-three years. The 
Company itself had ceased to exist before the symbol 
of its authority disappeared from the castle of Good 
Hope. Its administration until a quarter of a century 
before its fall, though by no means admirable, was as 
just and honest as that of any English foreign 
possession at the same time, because it had powerful 
opponents who kept a vigilant eye upon its proceed- 
ings ; but when that wholesome restraint was removed, 
its rule became corrupt and ruinous. Yet none of its 
acts even then were so unjust as prejudice has made 
them appear. Thus one English writer of eminence 
— Sir John Barrow — represented a regulation con- 
cerning the apprenticeship of children of slaves and 
Hottentot women living on farms as if it applied to 
the whole Hottentot race, and succeeding compilers 
copied his statement without question or doubt. 
Worse still, two English commissioners of inquiry, 
without taking the trouble to investigate the matter, 
reported upon a law concerning degraded Hottentot 
women and vagrants in Capetown as if the Hottentots 
everywhere had been made subject to its provisions ; 
and their report has been quoted again and again as 
proof of the merciless misgovernment of the East 
India Company. Now that its records are open to 
inspection, such charges are known to be incorrect. 
It governed South Africa with a view to its own 
interests, its method of paying its officials was bad, 
its system of taxation was worse, in the decline of 
its prosperity it tolerated many gross abuses ; but it 
cannot in fairness be accused of overbearing tyranny 
or cruelty towards either Europeans or Hottentots. 



X. 



THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 



The surrender of the Cape Colony to the British 
forces brought together two branches of the same 
race, for conquerors and conquered were of one stock. 
Of all the nations of Europe the inhabitants of the 
northern Netherlands are the closest in blood to the 
people of England and Scotland. During the cen- 
turies that they had been separated, however, their 
training had been different, so that many slight vari- 
ations had arisen. Though in the most important 
features their characters were the same, each regarded 
the variations in the other as blemishes, and often 
made more of them than was fair or honest. If this 
can be said of Englishmen and Dutchmen in Europe, 
it can be asserted more strongly of Englishmen and 
Dutchmen w^hen they first came in contact in South 
Africa, for in this country circumstances had tended 
greatly to develop a few^ traits. 

The system of taxation had been pernicious in its 
effects upon the character of the people. There were 
exceptions, but in general the farmers had come to 
regard very lightly the giving in the number of their 



CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS. II3 

cattle and the produce of their lands at less than a 
third of the true quantity. A man, whose word 
under other circumstances might be depended upon, 
in this matter would utter deliberate falsehoods 
without any twinges of conscience, and even thought 
he was justified in doing so because the returns he 
was supplying were for taxation purposes. This trait 
in the character of the burghers was at once detected 
by the Englishmen with whom they came in contact, 
and made a very bad impression. 

On the other hand, the habit of most Englishmen 
of that time of distorting accounts of national events 
made an equally bad impression upon the South 
African burghers, and thus each regarded the other 
as untruthful. 

The system of perquisites by which the East 
India Company's officials were paid had caused 
another ugly trait to be unduly developed in the 
character of many of the colonists. Accustomed to 
be mulcted of petty amounts in every transaction, 
they had come to consider it rather a proof of clever- 
ness than an immoral act to get the better of those 
with whom they were bargaining. It was regarded 
as nothing more than fair retaliation to cheat the 
government and its officers whenever and by what- 
ever means it could be done. The tendency to dis- 
honest and deceitful practices was made much of by 
unfriendly critics, though it was far from general, and 
at its worst was not greater than that of traders else- 
where who sell a bad article at the price of a good 
one. 

The burghers were charged with being very igno- 
9 



CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS, II5 

rant Excepting those in Capetown, they had hardly 
any education from books, and knew nothing more 
than how to read, write, and compute a Httle. All 
had bibles, the psalms in metre, and the Heidelberg 
catechism ; but few possessed any books on secular 
subjects. Yet no people on earth were less stupid. 
They filled the offices of elders and deacons in the 
churches, of heemraden in the courts of law, of 
commandants and fieldcornets in war, with as much 
ability as educated people in Europe could have 
shown. 

The colonists at a distance from Capetown were 
described as living in a very rough style. Their 
houses were small, poorly furnished, and untidy, said 
English visitors. It was true that the frontier farmers 
did not build large houses, for they were constantly 
liable to be plundered and driven away by savages. 
As soon as a district became tolerably safe, however, 
comfortable dwellings were put up by all who had 
means. The untidiness complained of was the result 
of the employment of coloured servants. The 
ancestors of the colonists brought to South Africa 
the cleanly and orderly habits of the people of the 
Netherlands ; but in many instances families had 
been unable to sustain the effort of compelling their 
servants to be neat and clean, and had fallen into the 
way of letting things take their course. But this was 
not peculiar to the Cape Colony : it was the case 
wherever coloured people were employed as domestics. 
Mrs. Stowe's picture of Aunt Dinah's kitchen is just 
as faithful with the scene laid in Louisiana as if it 
had been laid in South Africa. 



Il6 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 

The other faults attributed to the colonists were 
those of country people all the world over. They 
were inclined to bigotry in religious matters, were 
very plain in their language, and loved to impose 
marvellous tales upon credulous listeners. They 
were accused of indolence by some English visitors, 
but that was not a charge that could fairly be made. 
The man who managed either a grain or wine or 
cattle farm so as to make it pay had sufficient 
occupation without doing much manual labour. 

On their side, the colonists found just as great 
faults in the English character. They pictured 
Englishmen as arrogant above all other mortals, as 
insatiable in the pursuit of wealth, as regardless of 
the rights of others, and as viewing everything with 
an eye jaundiced by national prejudice. 

And yet, with all these harsh opinions of each 
other, there was really so little difference between 
English people and South Africans that as soon as 
they came together matrimonial connections began to 
be formed. The attractions of blood were stronger 
after all than prejudices born of strife and want of 
knowledge. 

In the blemishes of the colonial character that 
have been described, there was nothing that education 
of a healthy kind would not rectify, and against them 
could be set several virtues possessed in a very high 
degree. The colonists were an eminently self-reliant 
people, and seldom lost heart under difficulties. In 
tenacity of purpose they were without equals. Their 
hospitality was admitted even by those who were 
determined to see in them nothing else that was 



FIRST DAYS OF BRITISH RULE. II7 

praiseworthy, and their benevolence towards persons 
in distress was very highly developed. There was no 
part of the world where a well-behaved and trust- 
worthy stranger more readily met with assistance and 
genuine friendship. 

Though the British troops were in possession of 
Capetown, the people of the country districts were 
not disposed to acknowledge the new authorities. 
The greater number of the farmers retired to their 
homes, declaring that they did not consider them- 
selves bound by the acts of the late government. 
Under these circumstances every possible effort to 
soothe the colonists was made by the English com- 
manders. The people of Capetown were treated in 
such a manner as to dispel their anxiet}% and they 
were assured that they would presently be in the 
enjoyment of such liberty and good fortune as they 
had never known before. Many of the old servants 
of the East India Company, who were willing to take 
an oath to be faithful to the king of England as 
long as he should hold the colony, were retained in 
employment, and most of the clerks in the different 
offices were allowed to keep their situations. 

The paper money in circulation amounted to rather 
more than a quarter of a million pounds sterling, and 
was a source of much anxiety to its holders. The 
British commanders announced that it would be 
received at the public offices at its full nominal value. 
They also abolished a very obnoxious tax on auction 
accounts, and substituted for the old burgher coun- 
cillors a popular board termed the burgher senate. 
Two days after the capitulation they sent a document 



Il8 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 

over the country, in which a promise was made that 
every one mJght buy from whom he would, sell to 
whom he would, employ whom he would, and come 
and go whenever or wherever he chose, by land or by 
water. The farmers were invited to send their cattle 
and produce to Capetown, where they could sell 
whatever they wished in the manner most profitable 
for themselves, and the English would pay for any- 
thing purchased in hard coin. They were also invited 
to send persons to confer with the British commanders, 
if there was any matter upon which they wished for 
explanation. 

These measures had the desired effect in the Cape 
and Stellenbosch districts, and no opposition was 
made there to the new authorities. In Swellendam 
also, after a short time, the people decided to abolish 
the republic, and to submit to the English. An 
attempt to hold out was, however, made by the 
burghers of Graaff- Reinet, acting chiefly under 
guidance of a man named Jan Pieter Woyer. Sup- 
plies of ammunition and goods of every kind were 
therefore cut off from them, with the result that before 
the close of 1796 they too were obliged to tender a 
nominal submission, though they were in hope that 
before long aid from abroad would enable them to 
recover their independence. 

Woyer had left the country in a Danish ship bound 
to Java, that put into Algoa Bay, where vessels were 
then very rarely seen. Six French frigates happened 
to be at anchor in Batavia Roads when he arrived 
there. The admiral sent one with a supply of powder 
and lead for the Graaff-Reinet farmers, but when she 



SURRENDER OF A DUTCH FLEET. IIQ 

reached Algoa Bay an English ship of war happened 
to be there, and after a short action the frigate was 
obUged to retire. The government of Java also sent 
a vessel laden with munitions of war, clothing, sugar, 
and coffee, for the use of the farmers. It was intended 
that her cargo should be landed at Algoa Bay, but in 
a storm the vessel was so much damaged that she 
put into Delagoa Bay to be repaired, and in that port 
was seized by the crew of an English whaler aided 
by a few Portuguese. 

A fleet of nine ships, sent from Holland under 
command of Admiral Lucas, also failed in the object 
of aiding the colonists against the English. The 
admiral put into Saldanha Bay, and was there caught 
as in a trap between a much stronger British fleet on 
one side and a large British army on the other. On 
the 17th of August 1796 he was obliged to surrender 
his ships and nearly two thousand soldiers and 
sailors, without even an attempt to resist. 

Admiral Elphinstone and General Clarke only 
remained in South Africa a few weeks after the 
capitulation. They then went on to India, leaving 
General Craig at the head of the Cape government. 
This officer did his utmost to place English rule 
before the colonists in as favourable a light as pos- 
sible, and though as a conqueror he could not be 
loved, as a man he was highly respected. 

When tidings of the conquest reached England, the 
high authorities resolved that the Cape Colony should 
be ruled by a man of rank, who should have all the 
power held by the governor and the council under the 
Dutch East India Company. A very strong garrison 



120 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION, 

was to be maintained in Capetown, and the officer in 
command was to act as administrator in case of the 
governor's death or absence. 

Accordingly the earl of Macartney, an old Irish 
nobleman who had done good service in India, was 
sent out as governor, and took over the duty in May 
1797. His administration was free of the slightest 
taint of corruption, but was conducted on very strict 
lines. Those colonists who professed to be attached 
to Great Britain were treated with favour, while those 
who preferred a republic to a monarchy were obliged 
to conceal their opinions, or they were promptly 
treated as guilty of sedition. There never was a 
period in the history of the country when there was 
less freedom of speech than at this time. All the 
important offices were given to men who could not 
speak the Dutch language, and who drew such large 
salaries from the colonial treasury that there was 
little left for other purposes. An oath of allegiance 
to the king of England was demanded from all the 
burghers. Many objected, and a (qw did not appear 
when summoned to take it. The governor was firm, 
dragoons were quartered upon several of those who 
were reluctant, and others were banished from the 
country. 

The free trade promised in 1795 also came to an 
end. Com.merce with places to the east of the Cape of 
Good Hope was restricted to the Enghsh East India 
Company, and heavy duties were placed upon goods 
from the westward brought in any but English ships. 
British goods brought from British ports in British 
ships were admitted free of duty. The government 



INSURRECTION IN GRAAFF-REINET. 121 

resumed the power to put its own prices upon farm 
produce, and to compel delivery at those rates of all 
that was needed for the garrison and the ships of war 
frequenting Simon's Bay. The prices fixed, however, 
were fair and reasonable, and the burghers did not 
object to sell at such rates, though among themselves 
they spoke very bitterly of the arbitrary rule to which 
they were subjected. 

In November 1798 the earl of Macartney returned 
to Europe on account of his health. Major-General 
Francis Dundas then acted as administrator until 
December 1799, when Sir George Yonge arrived from 
England as governor. 

During this interval there was a petty insurrection 
by a party of farmers in Graaff-Reinet. The arrest 
of Adrian van Jaarsveld on a charge of forgery and 
setting a summons of the high court of justice at 
defiance was the immediate cause of the outbreak. 
The old commandant was being conveyed to Cape- 
town for trial when he was rescued by a band of 
frontiersmen, the same who had been the last to 
submit to British authority. A strong military force, 
consisting of a squadron of dragoons, a regiment of 
infantry, and a Hottentot corps, was at once sent to 
quell the disturbance. This was an easy matter, as 
the great majority of the people of the district of 
Graaff-Reinet declined to aid the insurgents, who 
thereupon sent in a petition for pardon. The officer 
in command of the troops replied in writing that they 
must lay down their arms before he would have any 
dealings with them, and named a place where they 
could do so. 



122 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 

One hundred and thirteen men appeared at the 
place appointed, and gave up their arms to the troops. 
There was no promise of any kind in the document 
sent to them, but they were under the impression that 
pardon was impHed in its terms, and therefore pro- 
tested when they were made prisoners. Ninety-three 
were released upon payment of fines, and the remain- 
ing twenty were sent to Capetown, where they were 
placed in close confinement Forty-two others after- 
wards gave themselves up, and were pardoned ; but 
seven of the most violent fled into Kaffirland, where 
they were joined by a band of deserters from the 
British army, and li\ed for several years under pro- 
tection of a powerful chief Those who were sent to 
Capetown were brought to trial before the high court 
of justice, when two were condemned to death and 
the others to various kinds of punishment ; but with 
the exception of one w^ho w^as flogged and banished 
and two who died in confinement, they were all 
released by the high commissioner De Mist in 1803. 

The appearance of the pandours on the frontier 
o-ave rise to a disturbance of another kind. Some of 
the Hottentots of that part of the country, seeing 
men of their ow^n class in arms against colonists, very 
naturally felt an inclination to aid them, and began to 
plunder the farmhouses of guns, pow^der, and clothing. 
They shed no blood, how^ever, and when they had 
secured what appeared to them to be sufficient booty, 
they repaired to the British camp with their wives 
and children, in the belief that they w-ould be regarded 
as having acted in a praiseworthy manner. General 
Vandeleur, the officer in command, did not know 



THE THIRD KAFFIR WAR. 1 23 

what to do with them. He allowed a hundred of the 
young men to enlist in the Hottentot regiment, and 
the others — about six hundred of both sexes and all 
ages — he sent to Algoa Bay with an escort to wait 
there until he could receive instructions concerning 
them from the government in Capetown. 

A matter of much greater importance than either 
of these petty insurrections had unexpectedly arisen, 
and was claiming all his attention. Gaika, who was 
a boy at the time of the second Kaffir war, had 
recently attained manhood, and had then claimed the 
chieftainship to which he was by birth the heir. His 
uncle, the regent Ndlambe, was unwilling to resign, 
and a large party in the tribe declared its readiness 
to support him. Gaika appealed to arms, and a 
battle was fought, in which he was not only victorious 
but had the good fortune to take his uncle prisoner. 
Ndlambe was carelessly guarded, however, and in 
February 1799 he managed to escape, when with a 
great number of followers he crossed the Fish river 
into the colony. All the clans that had been living 
between the Fish river and the Kowie since the 
previous war, except one, joined the po\\errul refugee. 
The white people who were in or near the line of his 
march took to flight, some losing all they had, others 
who could collect their cattle in time driving them off" 
and leaving everything else behind. In a few days 
the invaders were in full possession of the whole 
country along the coast to the Sunday river. 

General Vandeleur had no intention of employing 
British soldiers against the Kosas, but as he was 
marching towards Algoa Bay, with a view of return- 



124 ^^^ FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 

ing to Capetown, he was attacked by them in a 
thicket on the bank of the Sunday river. He beat 
them off, and then fell back a little and formed 
a camp to enable a patrol of twenty men to join him. 
But this patrol had already been surrounded, and 
after a gallant defence all were killed except four 
men who managed to escape. The camp was hardly 
formed when it was attacked by the Kosas, who 
rushed on in masses with their assagai shafts broken 
short so that they could be used as stabbing weapons. 
These charges were met with volleys of musket balls 
and grape shot, that covered the ground with bodies, 
until at length the Kosas turned and fled. 

The general then marched to Algoa Bay. After 
fortifying a camp on the Zwartkops river, he sent 
some of his soldiers to Capetown by sea, and called 
out a burgher commando to expel the invaders. The 
Hottentots who had plundered the frontier farm- 
houses were still at the bay drawing rations, and he 
thought it prudent to disarm them ; but upon the 
attempt being made they fled in a body and joined 
the Kosas. 

At the beginning of June a burgher commando 
assembled at the Bushman's river, but instead of 
attacking the intruders. General Vandeleur tried to 
persuade them to retire. Thus the tarmers lost heart 
by being kept waiting, and many dispersed, while the 
Kosas came to believe that the white men were afraid 
of them. They and the insurgent Hottentots then 
overran and pillaged the country far and wide. By 
the close of July twenty-nine white people had lost 
their lives, there was hardly a house left standing east 



THE THIRD KAFFIR WAR. IZ^ 

of the Gamtoos, and nearly all the cattle were in the 
hands of the marauders. 

In August a large burgher force was got together, 
and five hundred soldiers were sent to Algoa Bay. 
General Dundas, however, was determined to make 
another attempt to come to a friendly arrangement, 
so he proceeded to the disturbed district himself, and 
sent a confidential agent named Maynier to parley 
with the hostile chiefs. Six or seven hundred soldiers 
and three strong divisions of burghers were in the 
field. There was nothing left within reach to 
plunder. So when Maynier offered not to molest the 
Kosias in the coast belt east of the Bushman's river, 
if they would promise not to trespass beyond that 
territory, they readily pledged their word, and 
accepted as a mark of friendship the presents which 
he offered them. To get a parallel to either this 
transaction or the dealings of the East India Com- 
pany with the Kosas in the previous war, we must go 
back in English history to the time of the heathen 
Danes. The hearts of the farmers sank within them 
when peace was proclaimed, but they were obliged 
to abide by the decision of their rulers, and thus 
for a short time there was a kind of truce which 
was observed in an indifferent manner. 

Things remained in this state for nearly three 
years, during which time the farmers of Graaff-Reinet 
were in a condition of great poverty and distress. 
The depredations of the Kosas and Hottentots were 
then carried so far that for very shame's sake it was 
necessary to renew hostilities. A burgher force was 
called out, and placed under a very brave and highly 



126 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 

respected farmer named Tjaart van der Walt. Some 
success attended the early operations of this force, 
but in August 1802 the commandant was killed in 
action, and the burghers then dispersed. Five 
months later they were brought together again, but 
as the Kosas now asked for peace and promised to 
return to their own country as soon as possible, terms 
were concluded with them. They and the Hottentots 
engaged not to roam about and plunder, and the 
Europeans engaged to give them time to remove 
without disturbing them. 

The government of Sir George Yonge was 
thoroughly corrupt. It could not indeed be proved 
that he received bribes for his own benefit, but he 
could only be <approached through his favourites, and 
they were unscrupulous to the last degree. In a 
short time so many complaints reached England 
from people of every nationality at the Cape that he 
was recalled. He left the colony in April 1801, and 
after his arrival in London was not again employed 
in the public service. Major-General Dundas for 
the second time acted as administrator, and held 
that office until the restoration of the colony to 
Holland. 

In 1799 the first agents of the London missionary 
society arrived in South Africa. Unfortunately 
almost from the day of their landing some of them 
took a more prominent part in politics than in 
elevating the heathen, and as they advocated social 
equality between barbarians and civilised people, 
they were speedily at feud with the colonists. 

Terms of peace between Great Britain, France, 



128 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 

and the Netherlands — then the Batavian Republic — ■ 
were signed at Amiens on the 27th of March 1802, 
one of the conditions being that the Cape Colony- 
should be restored to its former owners. Accordingly 
in February 1803 a Dutch garrison of rather over 
three thousand men replaced the British troops, and 
General Dundas transferred the government to the 
Batavian commissioner De Mist. 




XL 

THE COLONY UNDER THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC 

The Cape settlement was now a direct dependency 
of the states-general as the governing body of the 
Batavian Republic, and liberal measures were adopted 
regarding it The executive power was entrusted to 
a governor, who was also commander-in-chief of the 
garrison. For this office Lieutenant-General Jan 
Willem Janssens — an able military officer and a man 
of high moral worth — was selected. A legislative 
and executive council was provided, consisting of 
four members and the governor as president. The 
high court of justice was made independent of the 
other branches of the government, and consisted of 
a president and six members, all versed in law. 
Trade with the possessions of the republic every- 
where was allowed on payment of a small duty for 
revenue purposes. An advocate of good standing — 
Mr. Jacob Abraham de Mist— was sent out as high 
commissioner, to receive the colony from the English, 
to instal the new officials, and to draw up such 
regulations as he might find necessary, which, after 
approval by the states-general, were to be embodied 
in a charter. 

lO ^29 



130 UNDER THE BAT AVI AN REPUBLIC. 

The 1st of March 1803 ^'^s observed as a day of 
thanksgiving to Almighty God for the restoration of 
the colony to its ancient owners. In the morning 
service was held in all the churches, and at noon the 
commissioner De Mist installed Lieutenant- General 
Janssens as governor. The other officials also who 
had arrived from Europe had their duties formally 
assigned to them. The landdrosts and most of the 
clerks under the English rule retained their posts. 

In April the governor left Capetown to visit the 
eastern part of the colony, and ascertain how matters 
were standing with the white people, the Kosas, and 
the Hottentots. At Algoa Bay he found a party of 
Hottentots under the guidance of Dr. Vanderkemp, 
a missionary of the London society ; and for their 
use he assigned a tract of land in the neighbourhood, 
ever since known as Bethelsdorp. Locations of 
ample size were also assigned to the Hottentot 
captains who had recently been in arms against the 
colonists, but with the improvidence of their race 
most of them with their people soon wandered away 
to other parts of the country, and the land set apart 
for their benefit was regarded as waste by succeeding 
governors. For the time being, however, matters 
were placed on a satisfactory footing with the people 
of this race who had lately been hostile. 

The governor then proceeded to the Sunday river^ 
where he had a conference with Ndlambe and the 
other Kosa chiefs who were living in the colony. 
The chiefs, who of course knew nothing of the rela- 
tive strength of England and Holland, were under 
the impression that the Dutch government must be 



DEALINGS WITH KOSA CHIEFS, I3I 

much more powerful than the other, because it was 
apparent to them that it had supplanted its opponent, 
and they knew that the colonists were supporting it 
with enthusiasm. The farmers were in high spirits, 
and had sent them word that they must not think the 
old times had come back again, for the great person 
called the Batavian Republic was immeasurably 
superior to the poor creature John Company, who 
had been ill a long time and was now dead. They 
therefore expressed a desire for peace and friendship 
with the white people, and there was no difficulty in 
settling minor matters with them. But the all-im- 
portant question of their return to their own country 
could not be arranged so easily, for though they 
admitted the Fish river as the boundary, they 
declared they could not cross it through fear of 
Gaika. 

Shortly after this the intruding clans began to 
quarrel among themselves. Two of them joined 
Gaika in an attack upon Ndlambe, but the old chief 
succeeded in beating them back. The Kosas thus 
remained in occupation of the belt of land along the 
coast east of the Bushman's river. The other parts 
of the district of Graaff-Reinet, however, enjoyed for 
a season a fair amount of tranquillity, so that the 
farmers were able to carry on their usual occupations. 

Mr. De Mist also, like the governor, made a tour 
through the colony, in order to become acquainted 
with the condition and wants of the people. The 
settlement was previously divided for magisterial and 
fiscal purposes into four districts — the Cape, Stellen- 
bosch, Swellendam, and Graaff-Reinet, — he now 



132 UNDER THE BAT AVIAN REPUBLIC, 

divided it into six of smaller size, and stationed 
landdrosts at Tulbagh and Uitenhage. 

Among the many regulations which he made was 
one giving full political equality to persons of every 
creed who acknowledged and worshipped a Supreme 
Being. Another provided for the creation of state 
schools, but this was an idea in advance of the times 
in South Africa, for the great majority of the colonists 
objected to schools that were not in connection with 
the church. The country did not remain long enough 
under the Batavian flag to test this question, but the 
probability is that state schools could not have suc- 
ceeded, as the antipathy to them was so strong. Yet 
another regulation permitted marriages to take place 
before the landdrosts, and required them to be regis- 
tered in the district courts. 

In 1805 the European population of the colony 
consisted of between twenty-five and twenty-six 
thousand individuals, exclusive of soldiers. They 
owned nearly thirty thousand slaves, and had in 
their service about twenty thousand free coloured 
people. It is impossible to say how many Hottentots 
were living at kraals, or Bushmen roaming about on 
the border, for these people paid no taxes, and there- 
fore no notice was tal<en of them by the census 
framers. Capetown had a population of rather over 
six thousand Europeans and nearly eleven thousand 
persons of colour. 

In May 1803, less than three months after the 
restoration of the colony, war broke out again be- 
tween Great Britain and the Batavian Republic, 
On receiving this intelligence, General Janssens de- 



ATTACK BY THE ENGLISH. I33 

voted all his attention to putting the Cape peninsula 
in a condition for defence. But soon instructions 
were received from Holland that he must send his 
best regiment to Batavia, as the mother country was 
unable to furnish more men, and troops were urgently 
needed in Java. All that the governor could do to 
make up for its loss was to increase the Hottentot 
corps, which had been transferred to him by General 
Dundas, to six hundred rank and file, and to form 
the Asiatics in and about Capetown into a volunteer 
corps, termed the Malay artillery. 

No one doubted that the English would attempt 
to seize the colony again, but a state of suspense 
continued until the last week of 1805, when tidings 
were received that a great fleet was approaching. 
Signals were at once made to the different drostdies, 
summoning the burghers to arms, and though the 
heat was so intense that they could only ride at 
night, hundreds came trooping to Capetown. But 
there were no means of feeding them long after the}' 
arrived, for the two previous seasons had been ex- 
ceptionally bad, and it had not been possible to lay 
up a store of grain. At this time, though the 
government made desperate exertions to obtain 
corn, there was never more than sufficient flour in 
Capetown for two days' consumption of the garrison 
and the inhabitants. Under these circumstances a 
large force, however devoted to the cause it was 
striving for, could not be kept together long. 

In the evening ot the 4th of January 1806 the 
fleet — which consisted of sixty-three ships — came to 
anchor west of Robben Island, at the entrance of 



134 UNDER THE BAT AVI AN REPUBLIC. 

Table Bay. There were on board nearly seven 
thousand soldiers, under command of Major-General 
David Baird, an officer who was well acquainted with 
the Cape and its fortifications, having served here in 
1798. On the 6th and 7th six regiments were landed, 
with some artillery and provisions, at a little cove 
about eighteen miles by road from Capetown. 

As soon as it was known that the English were 
landing on the Blueberg beach. General Janssens 
marched to meet them, leaving in Capetown a con- 
siderable burgher force and a few soldiers under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Von Prophalow to guard the 
forts. He had an army rather over two thousand 
strong, but composed of a strange mixture of men. 
There were mounted burghers, Dutch soldiers, a 
German mercenary regiment, the crews of two 
wrecked French ships, Malays, Hottentots, and even 
slaves. He had sixteen field-guns. 

At three o'clock in the morning of the 8th this 
motley force was under arms, when the scouts 
brought word that the English were approaching. 
Two hours later the British troops came in sight on 
the side of the Blueberg. General Baird had with 
him about four thousand infantry, besides artillery- 
men and five or six hundred sailors armed with 
pikes and drawing eight field-guns. 

As soon as the armies were within range, the 
artillery on both sides opened fire. A {qw balls 
from the English guns fell among the German 
mercenary troops, who at once began to retreat. 
The burghers, the French corps, the remainder of 
the troops, and the colo^ired auxiliaries behaved well, 



CAPITULATION OF CAPETOWN. I35 

receiving and returning a heavy fire of artillery and 
musketry. But the flight of the main body of regular 
troops made it impossible for the mixed force left on 
the field to stand a charge which was made by three 
Highland regiments, and by order of General Janssens 
the remnant of the army fell back. 

The loss on the English side in the battle of 
Blueberg was fifteen killed, one hundred and eighty- 
nine wounded, and eight missing. The roll-call of 
the Dutch forces when the fugitives were rallied 
shows the killed, wounded, and missing together. 
When it was made that afternoon three hundred and 
thirty-seven men did not answer to their names. 
General Janssens after his defeat sent the foreigners 
in his army to Capetown, and with the burghers and 
Dutch troops retired to the mountains of Hottentots- 
Holland. 

In the morning of the 9th General Baird resumed 
his march towards Capetown. It was not in Colonel 
Von Prophalovv's power to resist with any prospect 
of success, so he sent a flag of truce to request a 
suspension of arms in order to arrange terms of 
capitulation. General Baird granted thirty-six hours, 
but required immediate possession of the outer line 
of defence, including the fort Knokke at its extremity 
on the shore. His demand could not be refused, 
and that evening an English regiment was quartered 
in Fort Knokke. 

In the afternoon of the loth articles of capitulation 
were signed. The regular troops and the Frenchmen 
of the wrecked ships were to become prisoners of 
war. Colonists in arms were to return to their former 



136 UNDER THE BAT AVIAN REPUBLIC 

occupations. Private property of all kinds was to be 
respected, but everything belonging to the Batavian 
government was to be given up. The inhabitants 
were to preserve all their rights and privileges, and 
public worship as then existing was to be maintained. 
The paper money was to continue current until the 
pleasure of the king could be known, and the public 
lands and buildings were to be regarded as security 
for its redemption. The inhabitants of Capetown 
were to be exempt from having troops quartered on 
them. 

The force opposed to General Janssens was so 
great that he could not hope to make a long resist- 
ance, but his position in the mountains of Hottentots- 
Holland was more favourable for obtaining terms 
than if he had fallen back upon Capetown after the 
defeat at Blueberg. General Baird proposed that he 
should capitulate on honourable conditions, and on 
the 1 8th arrangements to that effect were made. 
They provided that the troops should not be con- 
sidered prisoners of war, but be sent to Holland at 
the expense of the British government, and that the 
inhabitants of the colony were to enjoy the same 
rights and privileges as had been granted to those of 
Capetown, except that the right of quartering troops 
upon them was reserved, as the country had not the 
same resources as the town. 

Seven transports were prepared, and the troops — 
nmety-four officers and five hundred and seventy- 
three rank and file — were embarked in them. One 
of the best was placed at the disposal of General 
Janssens, who had liberty to select such persons as 



DEPARTURE OF GENERAL yANSSENS. I37 

he wished to accompany him. Thirty-one of the 
civil servants under the Batavian administration 
desired to return to Europe, and were allowed 
passages. Fifty-three women and the same number 
of children also embarked. All being ready, on the 
6th of March 1806 the squadron, bearing the last 
representative of the dominion of the Netherlands 
over the Cape Colony, set sail for Holland. 




XII. 

EARLY YEARS OF ENGLISH RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

Conquest is a grievous thing for any people, no 
matter how lightly the conqueror imposes his rule. 
Apart from all other considerations, it wounds their 
pride and reduces their energy, for it is everywhere 
seen that a man of a leading race will do without 
second thought what one of subject nationality will 
never do at all. 

It was thus only natural that the colonists should 
feel dejected when the English flag was again the 
symbol of authority in South Africa. They had been 
ardently attached to the Batavian Republic, and had 
enjoyed three years of good government combined 
with ample liberty : now all they had cherished was 
gone. General Baird, indeed, used the most consoling 
language ; but they remembered that General Craig 
had done the same, and a hard unsympathetic rule 
had followed. They saw all authority again centred 
in one man, for the council was abolished, and the 
independence of the high court of justice was 
destroyed. The members of that court — the presi- 
dent only excepted — were now ordinary civil servants 

138 



POWERS OF THE GOVERNOR. 1 39 

who were appointed by the governor and held office 
during his pleasure. Even religious freedom came to 
an end, for a Roman catholic clergyman who had 
been chaplain to some of the foreign troops in the 
Dutch service was not permitted to remain in the 
colony. Hzs expulsion, however, was not felt as a 
grievance, for, in truth, the great majority of the 
burghers desired his presence less even than General 
Baird. 

There was one hope left, and that rested on the 
chance of war. If Napoleon should succeed in the 
struggle with England, which seemed very probable 
in 1806, they would once more be connected with 
their fatherland. And so in a spirit of despondency, 
but not of absolute despair, they submitted to the 
power that they could not resist. 

For some time there was fear of actual famine in 
Capetown. The inhabitants were restricted to a 
small daily allowance of bread, but with all haste 
wheat and rice were imported from India, and as the 
crops of the following season were remarkably good, 
the danger passed away. 

As soon as possible the colony was again placed 
under the same form of government as during the 
first British occupation, and under the same com- 
mercial regulations. The earl of Caledon, an Irish 
nobleman only twenty-nine years of age, was sent 
out as governor with very great authority, though in 
matters of primary importance he was to act under 
instructions from the secretary of state in London. 
He could fix prices for any produce required by the 
army, and assess the quantity each farmer was com- 



140 ENGLISH RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

pelled to deliver. He directed and controlled the 
different departments. His proclamations and notices 
had the force of law. With the lieutenant-governor 
he formed a court of appeal in civil cases of over 
^200 value, and with two assessors he decided appeals 
in criminal cases. He had also power to mitigate or 
suspend sentences passed by the inferior courts. 

Some of the orders of the earl of Caledon, such 
as forbidding the farmers of certain districts to keep 
African sheep, read strangely to-day ; but though he 
was very strict, he was an amiable and upright man, 
and was guided in all his doings by a desire to 
improve the country. His benevolence was almost 
unbounded, and, indeed, his last act when leaving 
South Africa was to present a thousand pounds in 
currency to the orphan asylum. 

The most important measure of his administration 
had reference to the Hottentots. These people had 
always in theory been regarded as independent of the 
European government, and subject to chiefs of their 
own race. Only in cases where white people or 
slaves were concerned were they liable to be tried 
before courts of justice, and they were neither taxed 
nor called upon to perform public services except 
when of their own accord they enlisted as pandours. 
In reality they lived in a state of anarchy. Whoever 
believed that men of all colours and conditions were 
equal, the Hottentots certainly did not They re- 
spected the poorest and weakest white man lar more 
than they did their own nominal chiefs, tor whose 
authority they cared nothing at all. Many of their 
women formed connections with slaves, and the farmers 



CONDITION OF THE HOTTENTOTS. I4I 

were obliged to maintain them, or the slaves would 
run away. Children born of such connections could be 
apprenticed to the farmers for a certain number of 
years, when through their mothers' rights they became 
free to go where they chose. With this exception, 
all but those who lived in Capetown or one of the 
villages or mission stations could assault or plunder 
one another without fear of punishment. 

As far as land was concerned, there were reserves 
set apart for their benefit in the long-settled parts of 
the country, and they could use ground not occupied 
by farmers anywhere. But many of them preferred 
to live as dependents of a white man, though they 
seldom remained long in the service of the same 
person. To obtain brandy and tobacco they were 
willing to perform light labour occasionally, but 
nothing could induce them to adopt a life of regular 
industry. In short, they had become rovers and 
vagrants. 

The earl of Caledon issued a proclamation which 
removed all vestiges of chieftainship from the 
Hottentots in the colony, made them subject to 
European law, and restrained them from wandering 
over the country at will. Any one found without a 
pass from a landdrost or an employer was to be 
treated as a vagabond. 

Certain missionaries of the London society raised 
a great outcry in England against this proclamation 
and another giving the landdros's power to apprentice 
children of destitute Hottentots, which was issued by 
Sir John Cradock ; but no measures could be devised 
of greater benefit to the people aftected. It is true 



142 ENGLISH RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

that some small bands, rather than submit to control, 
moved over the Orange river into Great Namaqua- 
land ; but the vast majority of the Hottentots were 
rescued by these apparently harsh proceedings from 
utter ruin, if not from extinction. 

In i8ii Sir John Cradock succeeded the earl of 
Caledon as governor. He too was a man of very 
high principle, so that autocratic rule at this period 
was presented to the colonists in its best form. 

Ever since the return of the English the Kosa 
clans within the colony had been restless, probably 
because they saw that the burghers were not attached 
to the new rulers, and in consequence were less 
capable of resistance. They not only sent out 
plundering parties to drive off cattle, but they were 
constantly taking more territory, and only laughed at 
the remonstrances of the white people. When Sir 
John Cradock reached South Africa, he found reports 
awaiting him from the landdrost of Uitenhage, in 
which he was informed that there was only one farm 
still occupied east of the drostdy, and that no other 
choice was left than the expulsion of the Kosas by 
force or the abandonment of the remainder of the 
district. 

A strong body of burghers was therefore called 
out, and some European soldiers with the Hotten- 
tot regiment were sent to the front. Lieutenant- 
Colonel John Graham was placed in command of the 
whole force. He was instructed to try to persuade 
the Kosas to retire peacefully ; but if they would not 
do so he was to take the most effectual measures to 
compel them to return to their own country. Major 



FOURTH KAFFIR WAR. 1 43 

Ciiyler with an escort of twenty-five farmers and an 
interpreter was therefore sent to the most advanced 
kraal to hold a parley with the chiefs. Close to the 
kraal some men were observed, and the major tried to 
speak to them, but the old chief Ndlambe advanced a 
few paces from the others, and, stamping his foot on 
the ground, shouted : " This country is mine ; I won 
it in war, and intend to keep it." Then shaking an 
assagai with one hand, with the other he raised a horn 
to his mouth. Upon blowing it, two or three hundred 
men rushed from a thicket towards Major Cuyler's 
party, who owed their escape solely to the fleetness of 
their horses. 

There was thus no alternative to the employment of 
force. Everything was arranged for an attack upon 
the Kosas, but before it was made the landdrost of 
Graaff-Reinet and eight farmers were treacherously 
murdered during a conference with a party of 
warriors. In January 18 12 an advance was made 
by the burghers and Hottentots in six divisions, 
that swept the country before them, while the 
European soldiers occupied strong positions in the 
rear. This plan succeeded admirably, for the Kosas, 
about twenty thousand in number, after a brief 
resistance fled to their own country. Some women 
who were made prisoners were then sent to inform 
them that on their own side- of the boundary they 
would not be molested, but if they returned to the 
colony they would be shot. By the beginning of 
March the fourth Kaffir war was over, and it had 
ended — as neither the second nor the third had — 
favourably for the Europeans. 




I i 



ESTABLISHMENT OF A CIRCUIT COUR I45 

A line of military posts, g-arrisoned partly by Euro- 
pean soldiers, partly by tiie Hottentot regiment — 
which was shortly afterwards raised to eight hundred 
men, — and partly by burghers, was now formed from 
the sea to the second chain of mountains, to prevent 
the return of the people expelled. The principal 
post in the line, where the head-quarters of the troops 
on the frontier were stationed, was named Grahams- 
town, in honour of the officer in command. 

During recent years several governors had thought 
of establishing a circuit court, but the various changes 
which had taken place prevented the completion of 
the design until 181 1. Three members of the high 
court of justice then left Capetown on the first 
circuit, with instructions to try important cases, to 
ascertain whether the landdrosts performed their 
duties correctly and impartially, to inspect the district 
chests and buildings, and to report upon the condition 
of the people and all matters affecting public interests. 
Their proceedings were conducted with open doors, 
and no distinction was made between persons of 
different races or colour, either as accusers, accused, 
or witnesses. Throughout South Africa satisfaction 
was expressed with the establishment of a circuit 
court of this kind, and everywhere the judges were 
received with the greatest respect. 

Unfortunately, however, the reverend Messrs. 
Vanderkemp and Read, missionaries of the London 
society, had given credence to a number of stories of 
murder of Hottentots and other outrages said to have 
been committed by colonists, and their reports — in 
which these tales appeared as facts — were published 

II 



146 ENGLISH RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA, 

in England. By order of the British government, the 
charges thus made were brought before the second 
circuit court, which held its sessions in the last months 
of 1812. 

In this, the black circuit as it has since been called, 
no fewer than fifty-eight white men and women were 
put upon their trial for crimes alleged to have been 
committed against Hottentots or slaves, and over a 
thousand witnesses — European, black, and Hottentot 
— were summoned to give evidence. The whole 
country was in a state of commotion. The serious 
charges were nearly all proved to be without founda- 
tion ; but several individuals were found guilty of 
assault, and were punished. The irritation of the 
relatives and friends of those who were accused with- 
out sufficient cause was excessive ; and this event, 
more than anything that preceded it, caused a last- 
ing unfriendly feeling between the colonists and the 
missionaries of the London society. 

In 1 81 3 the French met with great reverses in 
Europe, and one of the first results was that the 
prince of Orange, who had been in exile in England 
since 1795, returned to the Netherlands and was 
received by the people as their ruler. To this time 
the British government regarded the Cape Colony 
not as a national possession, but as a conquest that 
might be restored to its original owner on the conclu- 
sion of peace. But now an agreement was made with 
the sovereign prince of the Netherlands that for a 
sum of six million pounds sterling he should cede 
to Great Britain the Cape Colony and some Dutch 
provinces in South America. This agreement was 



CESSION OF THE COLONY. 147 

embodied in a convention signed at London in August 
1 8 14, when the claim of the Netherlands to South 
Africa was extinguished for ever. 

And so the hopes that the colonists entertained of 
coming again under the flag of Holland were dissi- 
pated, but time had done much to soften their regret. 
To say that they were reconciled to English rule 
would be incorrect. They were, however, becoming 
accustomed to it, and as yet, excepting the statements 
of the London missionaries, nothing had occurred 
to cause any friction. Their language was still used 
in the courts of law and the public offices. Their 
churches had been increased to nine, and their clergy- 
men were paid by the state. Six new magistracies — 
George, Clanwilliam, Caledon, Grahamstown, Cradock, 
and Simonstown — had been established. The financial 
condition of the government, bad as it subsequently 
proved to be, was not yet causing much alarm. In 
the Cape peninsula, where alone Englishmen were 
met in considerable numbers, intermarriages were 
already so common that race antipathies were rapidly 
dying out. After the absorption of Holland by 
France, also, the colonists lost the enthusiastic at- 
tachment which they had felt for the Batavian 
Republic, so that altogether the prospect was fair 
that in course of time the Europeans in South Africa 
would forget their old aversion to British rule, unless 
something untoward happened to revive it 



XIII. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CHARLES 
SOMERSET. 



Though the colony had now become a permanent 
British possession, no change in the form of its govern- 
ment was made, nor was there any reduction of the 
excessively high salaries paid to the officials sent 
from England. Lord Charles Somerset, who succeeded 
Sir John Cradock in 1814, drew a salary of i^io,ooo 
a year, and was provided at the public expense with 
a residence in town, a country house at Newlands, a 
marine villa at Camp's Ba}^, and a shooting lodge 
at Groenekloof He and the heads of departments 
among them absorbed more than one-fourth of the 
entire revenue of the country. Buildings needed for 
landdrosts' offices in the country districts and for 
various purposes in Capetown had been provided 
during recent years, but the cost had been defrayed 
by the creation of paper money, not from surplus 
funds in the treasury. Such a system could only end 
in disaster, but apparently no one saw trouble ahead, 
and the secretary of state took no steps to correct it 

Lord Charles Somerset had been in the colony a 

Z4& 



slachter's nek rebellion, 149 

little longer than a year when an event took place 
which stirred the smouldering fire of disaffection to 
British rule. 

There was a farmer named Frederik Bezuiden- 
hout living on the eastern frontier, in a secluded dell 
in the valley now called Glen Lynden. This man 
was summoned to appear before a court of justice on 
a charge of ill-treatment of a servant, but did not 
attend, so a company of pandours was sent to arrest 
him. When they were seen approaching he fired 
upon them, and then took shelter in a cavern close 
by, where, as he refused to surrender, he was shot dead. 

On the following day his relatives and friends 
assembled for the funeral, when one of his brothers 
declared that he would never rest until the Hottentot 
regiment was driven from the frontier. The others 
present expressed themselves of the same mind, and 
a plan of insurrection was made. An attempt to 
induce others to join them failed, however, and they 
were never able to muster more than fifty men. 

Within a very short time the government became 
acquainted with what was taking place, and as a 
strong force of burghers who had no sympathy with 
lawlessness assisted the troops sent to restore order, 
the revolt was suppressed without dif^culty. Most of 
those who had taken part in it surrendered, but a few 
tried to escape to Kafifirland. These were followed 
by a party of pandours, and all were captured except 
Jan Bezuidenhout, who would not surrender, and, 
with his wife and little son helping him, stood at bay 
till he was shot dead. 

The prisoners — thirty-nine in number — were tried 



750 LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION. 

by a special commission of the high court of justice, 
and six were sentenced to death, the others to various 
kinds of punishment. Lord Charles Somerset would 
only mitigate one of the death sentences, and five oi 
the insurgents were hanged in presence of their com- 
panions. The burghers who had assisted the govern- 
ment were greatly shocked by this severe punishment, 
for they had not thought they were helping to bring 
their misguided countrymen to death. By them, as 
well as by the families of those who took part in 
the disturbance, the event was long remembered with 
very bitter feelings towards the British authorities. 

It is now necessary to cast a glance at the clans 
east of the Fish river, for movements were taking 
place among them that brought on another war with 
the white people, apparently a most unjustifiable war 
on the part of the European government, but really 
one for which a good reason was not wanting. 

After Ndlambe's expulsion from the colony, bands 
of his followers found means to get through the line 
of military posts and plunder the farmers beyond. 
His young athletes, good-natured when not in a state 
of excitement, fleet of foot, daring, and capable of 
long abstinence from food, made their way from 
thicket to thicket through the country they had lived 
in nearly thirteen years, and the first notice of their 
presence in any locality was an empty fold from 
which the cattle had been driven at night. The 
more expert the robber, the greater hero was he 
among his companions, and the prouder were his 
relatives of him. It was their way of earning glory 
and gain at the same time. 



FIFTH KAFFIR WAR, 151 

Occasionally a band of soldiers would appear at 
one of their kraals and take compensation for the 
losses of the farmers, and then another account would 
be run up in the same way. Thus there was a feeling 
of hostility on both sides, with no prospect of a 
change for the better. 

Ndlambe and Gaika were all the time quarrelling 
with each other, and in 181 8 the elder chief suddenly 
became the stronger of the two. A large and im- 
portant clan, previously neutral, went over to his side, 
and a famous seer, named Makana, declared in his 
favour. This Makana was a man of conspicuous 
ability among his countrymen. If he had been of 
chieftain's blood, there is little doubt that he would 
have made a great position for himself, but his 
parents were commoners, and therefore in Kafifirland 
he could never be the head of a tribe. He took the 
only way to power open to him, and became a 
religious teacher. The people believed that he was 
in communication with the spirits of the mighty 
dead, and that his visions and dreams were inspired. 
His precepts were of a highly moral nature, for he 
had learned a good deal of Christianity from mission- 
aries, and adapted it to his own ideas. 

In time Makana acquired enormous influence* 
which he used in an attempt to solidify the western 
section of the Kosa tribe, by bringing the half- 
independent clans of which it was composed into 
complete subjection to one head. Gaika, sunk in 
drunkenness and sensuality, was incapable even of 
comprehending such a purpose ; so he declared for 
the manly and clear-headed Ndlambe, though that 



152 LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION. 

chief must then have been nearly eighty years of age. 
The nominal head of the tribe, who was named 
Hintsa, resided far away beyond the Kei, and usually 
troubled himself very little about the western clans, 
over whom he had hardly any authority. But on 
this occasion he too pronounced in favour of the old 
chief, and sent a band of warriors to aid him. 

By a stratagem of Makana, the greater number of 
Gaika's adherents were drawn into an ambush on the 
Debe flats, where after a desperate battle they were 
driven from the field with frightful slaughter. The 
defeated chief fled to the Winterberg, and sent to the 
colony to beg for aid. 

Now comes the question : Was Lord Charles 
Somerset justified in assisting him? The quarrel 
was between two rivals in a tribe over which he had 
no right of control, what business had he to interfere 
in it ? The answer is that the governor could not 
permit a formidable hostile power to grow up on the 
border of the colony. To those who do not consider 
that reason sufficient, his action must appear unjusti- 
fiable. 

Regarding Ndlambe as an implacable and danger- 
ous enemy, he issued instructions to Lieutenant- 
Colonel Brereton to proceed to Gaika's assistance 
with a combined force of 'burghers and soldiers. In 
December 1818 Colonel Brereton crossed the Fish 
river, and being joined by Gaika's adherents, attacked 
Ndlambe, who was believed to be at the head of 
eighteen thousand men. 

Ndlambe and his followers, however, did not ven- 
ture to make a stand on open ground, but retired to 



FIFTH KAFFIR WAR, 1 53 

dense thickets, which afforded them shelter. Their 
kraals were destroyed, and twenty-three thousand 
head of cattle were seized. The British commander 
found it impossible to restrain the savage passions of 
Gaika's followers, who were mad with excitement and 
joy at being able to take revenge, and were unwilling 
to show mercy when any of their enemies fell into 
their hands. He v/ithdrew, therefore, before Ndlambe 
was thoroughly humbled, and on reaching Grahams- 
town the burghers were disbanded and permitted to 
return to their homes. 

Ndlambe at once took advantage of the oppor- 
tunity. Falling upon Gaika, he put that chief to 
flight, and then he poured his warriors into the 
colony. The inhabitants of the district between the 
Fish and Sunday rivers, unless in the neighbourhood 
of military posts, were compelled hastily to retire to 
lagers, and lost nearly all their property. Seventeen 
white people and thirteen Hottentots were murdered. 

A burgher force was called out, but before the 
farmers could take the field Grahamstown was 
attacked. In the early morning of the 22nd of 
April 1 8 19 between nine and ten thousand warriors, 
led by Makana, made a sudden rush upon that post, 
which had then a garrison of only three hundred and 
thirty-three men. They were met with a deadly fire 
of musketry and artillery, and after a short struggle 
were driven back with heavy loss. 

Three months later a strong army of colonists and 
soldiers crossed the Fish river, drove Ndlambe's 
adherents eastward to the bank of the Kei, killed 
many of them, seized all their cattle, and burned 



154 LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION. 

their kraals. The old chief's power was completely 
broken. The fifth Kaffir war ended by the surrender 
of Makana, who gave himself up in the hope that 
his friends would then be spared. He was sent a 
prisoner to Robben Island, and three years afterwards 
was drowned when trying to escape. 

Though t'here was no more fighting, the forces 
were kept in the field for several months. The 
governor then resolved to try to prevent the Kosas 
from entering the colony again by keeping a belt 




FORT WILLSHIRE. BUILT 182O ; ABANDONED 1837. 

{From a Sketch by A. Steedman.) 

of land beyond the border unoccupied except by 
soldiers, who were to patrol constantly up and down 
it. The military officers recommended that the 
Keiskama and Tyumie, as being a better line of 
defence than the Fish river, should be made the 
limit of Kaffirland, and the governor accepted their 
advice. In October he met Gaika, who depended 
upon his good will so completely that when he 
proposed his scheme the chief at once agreed to it. 
On the right bank of the Keiskama a defensible 



ARRIVAL OF BRITISH SETTLERS. I55 

barrack was then built, which was named Fort 
Willshire, and there a body of European troops 
was stationed. A little later another barrack was 
built on the Kat river, and was named Fort Beaufort. 
The territory between the Fish river and the new line 
was kept without inhabitants, but it was easily tra- 
versed by the Kosas, who knew every thicket and 
jungle in it. In 1820 it was ceded by Gaika to the 
colony. 

We have now arrived at an important period in the 
history of South Africa. To this time the colonists 
outside of Capetown were almost entirely Dutch- 
speaking, henceforward the English language is to be 
heard in many farmhouses as well as in the villages 
and towns throughout the country, and English 
customs and ideas are to come into rivalry with 
the customs and ideas of the earlier settlers. 

For several years after the general peace which 
followed the fall of Napoleon much distress was felt 
by the labouring classes in Great Britain, and emigra- 
tion was commonly spoken of as the only effectual 
remedy. In the Cape Colony in 1819, according to 
the census, there were only forty-two thousand white 
people ; so it seemed to the imperial government that 
the country invited settlers, and parliament without 
demur granted ;^50,ooo to defray the cost of sending 
out a large party. 

Heads of families representing nearly ninety thou- 
sand persons applied for passages, and from these 
a selection was made of the number required. The 
ships in which they left England and Ireland, with 
one exception, reached South Africa safely, and in 



156 LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION, 

April 1820 the immigrants commenced to land on 
the sandy beach of Algoa Bay. A few hundred who 
arrived a little later were located first at Clanwilliam, 
but in a short time most of them abandoned that 
part of the colony and followed the others to the 
eastern frontier. Several were people of some means, 
who brought out a number of servants and appren- 
tices, the others were of various callings, a large 
proportion being artisans, men who had worked in 
factories in England, clerks, and storemen. There 
were nearly twice as many male as female adults. 

The imperial government defrayed the cost of 
ocean transit, and each head of a family was promised 
a plot of ground one hundred acres in extent, on 
condition of occupying it for three years. Those 
who brought out servants were to have an additional 
hundred acres for each. Nothing more than this 
was promised, but means of transport to the land 
on which they were located were provided by the 
government, and for more than eighteen months 
rations of food were supplied to all who needed 
them. With few exceptions, the immigrants were 
located between the Bushman's and Fish rivers, the 
Zuurberg and the sea, a pleasant land to look upon, 
with its waving grass and many streamlets and 
patches of dark evergreen forest in the recesses of 
the mountains. It was part of the territory that 
Ndlambe had occupied for thirteen years, and that 
he had vainly tried to hold in 1812. 

At the same time that these people were being sent 
from Great Britain at the expense of the government, 
a few came to South Africa without any aid, on the 



SUCCESS OF THE BRITISH SETTLERS. I57 

assurance of the secretary of state that they would 
receive larger grants of land if they paid for their 
passages. Altogether, nearly five thousand indivi- 
duals of British birth settled in the colony between 
March 1820 and May 182 1. 

For several years the immigrants were subject to 
much distress. Most of them knew nothing about 
tilling ground, but they tried to live upon their little 
farms until they could get title-deeds, in order to be 
able to sell. Season after season their wheat crops 
were destroyed by rust. Then there was a great 
flood, which washed away many cottages and gardens. 
In addition to other troubles, roving Kosas made 
their way into the district, and robbed the poor people 
of many of the cattle that they had purchased. 

At the end of 1821 the artisans began to disperse. 
In different villages throughout the colony they 
obtained plenty of work, at prices that soon placed 
them in a good position. They were followed from 
the locations by many others, who were not qualified 
to make farmers, but who easily found openings in 
other pursuits. The government then enlarged the 
farms of those who knew how to make use of them, 
and better times for all set in. It was about five 
years after their arrival before each one found himself 
in the sphere for which he was best adapted, and in 
another five years it began to be questioned whether 
a similar party had ever succeeded so well in any 
other country. 

Grahamstovvn and Port Elizabeth owe their im- 
portance to these British immigrants. In 1820 
neither of these places was more than a hamlet 



158 LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION, 

attached to a military post, but a few years later 
both were flourishing towns. 

About one-eighth of the European inhabitants of 
the colony were now English-speaking, and theirs 
was a language which quickly spreads. When a man 
from the British Islands and one from any other 
country live together, their intercourse is conducted 
in the language of the Briton, for he refuses to learn 
a speech that was strange to him in youth. In South 
Africa this matter might with great advantage have 
been left to settle itself. But the deepest feelings of 
the old colonists were stirred by an order of the 
imperial government that after the 1st of January 
1825 all official documents, and after the ist of 
January 1828 all proceedings in courts of law should 
be in English. In Simonstown, Grahamstown, and 
Port Elizabeth, the exclusive use of the English 
language in the courts of law was not objected to ; 
but in other places, where Dutch was spoken by 
nearly the whole people, the order was regarded as 
a very serious grievance. Many requests were made 
to the government to annul it, but to no purpose, 
and upon the" dates named English became the official 
language of the country. It would have been difficult 
to devise a measure more calculated to irritate the 
Dutch inhabitants. 

Just at this time also great distress was caused 
to many people by an order concerning the paper 
money. There were in circulation notes to the 
nominal value of a little over ^^700,000, of which 
about one-third had been created by the English 
government, one-seventh had been forged so cleverly 



SIGNS OF PROGRESS. I59 

that they could not be separated from those that 
were genuine, and the remainder were of Dutch 
origin. The existence of this paper was certainly 
a very great drawback to commerce, and it was 
necessary for the advancement of the country that it 
should be got rid of But when an order came from 
England reducing it to three-eighths of its nominal 
value, and making British silver money a legal tender 
at that rate of exchange, it was felt as a crushing 
blow by many people. Not a few were entirely 
ruined. But commerce was placed on a safe footing, 
for the old rixdoUar notes were replaced by others 
at the reduced rate, on which the value was marked 
in pounds sterling, and the imperial treasury was 
responsible for their redemption at any time in gold. 

Notwithstanding the widespread discontent and 
the drawbacks to prosperity which have been men- 
tioned, the colony showed many signs of progress 
during the administration of Lord Charles Somerset. 
The villages of Beaufort West, Bathurst, Worcester, 
Somerset East, and Somerset West were founded, 
the first lighthouse on the coast was built, a good 
waggon road was opened through a cleft in the 
mountain range behind French Hoek, and the South 
African public library was established. The breed 
Df cattle, and especially of horses, was greatly im- 
proved, mainly through the importation of thorough- 
bred stock by the governor himself Wine was 
the principal article of export, but mules were now 
sent to Mauritius and horses to India in considerable 
numbers. 

The clergymen of the Dutch church were increased 



l6o LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION- 

to sixteen, and of the English church to five. A 
Wesleyan clergyman who was sent out from Eng- 
land in 1 8 14 was not permitted by the governor to 
conduct services publicly, so his society appealed to 
the secretary of state, with the result that religious 
liberty was secured for the colony. A Roman 
catholic clergyman was now resident in Capetown, 
and Protestant clergymen of various denominations 
were scattered over the country and carrying on 
mission work beyond the borders. At each drostdy 
a high-class government school was established, to 
which parents were invited to send their children free 
of charge. In the eastern part of the colony these 
schools were of the utmost service, but as instruction 
was given through the medium of the English 
language only, they were regarded with much anti- 
pathy in the western districts, and were not there as 
useful as they might otherwise have been. 

In 1825 a council was established to advise the 
governor in such affairs of importance as he might 
choose to submit to it for discussion. It consisted of 
six officials appointed by the secretary of state, and 
was intended to modify the despotic power of the 
governor ; but practically it was a very slight check 
upon the authority of a man of strong will like Lord 
Charles Somerset, who treated in a most arbitrary 
manner all who professed democratic principles or 
who ventured to oppose him in any way. Among 
other acts which caused much clamour was the sup- 
pression by his order of a liberal newspaper called 
the Commercial Advertiser, and the virtual confisca- 
tion of the press with which it was printed. 



RESIGNATION OF THE GOVERNOR. l6l 

The later years of his administration were marked 
by distress among the farmers — owing to bad seasons, 
— by a decreasing revenue, by much grumbling about 
the burden of taxation and the excessive cost of 
government, and by numerous complaints of his 
tyranny made to the secretary of state and to the 
imperial parliament. But he had influential friends, 
for he was a brother of the duke of Beaufort and 
of that Lord Fitzroy Somerset who afterwards 
became Lord Raglan, and his party was then in 
power. In 1826, however, he was obliged to return 
to England to defend his conduct against charges by 
the liberal leaders in the house of commons, who 
were making capital of him in their attacks upon the 
treasury benches, and as there was a change of 
ministry shortly afterwards, he considered it prudent 
to resign the government of the Cape Colony, a 
course of action that prevented his case coming on 
for hearing. 




12 



XIV. 

THE WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSHAKA. 

At this period nearly the whole of South Africa 
beyond the borders of the Cape Colony was in a state 
of violent disturbance, owing to wars among different 
Bantu tribes. 

About the year 1783, or perhaps a little later, one 
of the wives of the chief of a small tribe living on 
the banks of the river Umvolosi gave birth to a son, 
who was named Tshaka. Before he was fully grown 
the boy excited the jealousy of his father, and was 
obliged to flee for his life. He took refuge with 
Dingiswayo, head of a powerful tribe, who in his 
early years had gone through many strange adven- 
tures, and had by some means come to hear of the 
European military system. When Tshaka fled to 
him, Dingiswayo was carrying on war with his 
neighbours, and had his followers regularly drilled 
and formed into regiments. The young refugee 
became a soldier in one of these regiments, and by 
his bravery and address rapidly rose to a high 
position. Time passed on, Dingiswayo died, and 

the army raised Tshaka, then its favourite general, 

162 



GENIUS OF TSHAKA, 1 63 

to supreme command. This was the origin of the 
terrible Zulu power. 

Tshaka was a man of great bodily strength and of 
unusual vigour of mind, but he was utterly merciless. 




A ZULU WARRIOR IN UNIFORM. 

[Sketch by Captain Gardiner. 

He set himself the task not merely o\ conquering 
but of exterminating the tribes as far as he could 
reach. With this object he greatly improved the 
discipline of the army, and substituted for the light 



t64 wars and devastations of tshaka, 

assagai a short-handled long-bladed spear formed 
either to cut or to stab. With this weapon in his 
hand, the highly trained Zulu soldier, proud of his 
fame and his ornaments, and knowing that death 
was the penalty of cowardice or disobedience, was 
really invincible. 

Tribe after tribe passed out of sight under the 
Zulu spear, none of the members remaining but a few 
of the handsomest girls and some boys reserved to 
carry burdens. These boys, with only the choice 
before them of abject slavery or becoming soldiers, 
always begged .to be allowed to enter the army, and 
were soon known as the fiercest of the warriors. 

The territory that is now the colony of Natal was 
densely peopled before the time of Tshaka. But 
soon after the commencement of his career, various 
tribes that were trying to escape from his armies fell 
upon the inhabitants of that fair land, and drove 
before them those whom they did not destroy. As 
far as the Umzimvubu river the whole population 
was in motion, slaughtering and being slaughtered. 

One large horde of fugitives made its way as far 
as the river Umgwali, and was there attacked and 
beaten by a combined force of Tembus and Kosas. 
After the battle the horde dispersed, and its frag- 
ments settled down in a condition of vassalage among 
the clans between the Kei and the Umtata. So 
also at a little later date did other remnants of 
various tribes from the north, all of the refugees 
taking the common name of Fingos, or wanderers. 
By the beginning of 1824, between the rivers Tugela 
and Umzimvubu there were not left more than five 



THE M ANT ATI HORDE. 1 65 

or six thousand wretched starvehngs, who hid them- 
selves in thickets, and some of whom became canni- 
bals as the only means of sustaining life. 

On the other side of the great mountain range 
known as the Kathlamba or Drakensberg, the de- 
struction of human beings was even greater. Before 
the rise of the Zulu power, Bantu tribes peopled 
densely the northern part of the territory now termed 
Basutoland, the north-eastern portion of the present 
Orange Free State, and the whole area of the South 
African Republic of our days. During the winter 
of the year 1822 a tribe fleeing from the Zulus 
crossed the mountains and fell upon the people 
residing about the sources of the Caledon. They, 
in their turn, fell upon others in advance, until the 
whole of the inhabitants of the country as far as 
the Vaal in one great horde crossed the river and 
began to devastate the region beyond. Among their 
leaders was a woman named Ma Ntatisi, from whom 
the horde received the name Mantatis. 

After crossing the Vaal, the Mantatis turned to 
the north-west, and created awful havoc with the 
tribes in their line of march. As each was overcome, 
its cattle and grain were devoured, and then the 
murderous host passed on to the next. Their 
strength was partly kept up by incorporating captives, 
but vast numbers of the invaders, especially of women 
and children, left their bones mingled with those of 
the people they destroyed. Twenty-eight distinct 
tribes are believed to have disappeared before the 
Mantatis received a check. Then Makaba, chief of 
the Bangwaketsi, fell upon them unawares, defeated 



l66 WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSHAKA. 

them, and compelled them to turn to the south. In 
June 1823 they sustained another defeat from a party 
of Griqua horsemen, and then the great horde broke 
into fragments. 

One section— the Makololo — went northward, de- 
stroying the tribes in its course, and years afterwards 
was found by Dr. Livingstone on a branch of the 
Zambesi. Another section, under Ma Ntatisi, re- 
turned to its old home, and took part in the 
devastation of the country along the Caledon. And 
various little bands wandered about destroying until 
they were themselves destroyed. Several thousand 
refugees from the wasted country found their way 
into the Cape Colony, where they were apprenticed 
by the government to such persons as were not 
slaveholders. 

In the winter of 1828 a Zulu army penetrated the 
country as far south as the Bashee. Tshaka himself 
with a body-guard remained at the Umzimkulu, and 
sent one of his regiments to destroy the Pondos, while 
another division of his force proceeded to deal in the 
same manner with the Tembus and Kosas. The 
Pondos were plundered of everything they possessed, 
but the chief and most of his people managed to hide 
themselves until the Zulus retired. The Tembus and 
Kosas fared better. There was an Englishman, 
named Henry Fynn, with Tshaka, and he succeeded 
in inducing the chief to recall the army before there 
was much destruction of life or property. 

The Tembus and Kosas, however, were greatly 
alarmed. They sent to beg help from the Europeans, 
and to prevent them from being driven into the colony 



MURDER OF TSHAKA. 167 

a commando of a thousand men, under Lieutenant- 
Colonel Somerset, marched to their aid. This com- 
mando encountered a large body of fierce warriors, 
who were believed to be Zulus, and an engagement 
followed which lasted several hours. Afterwards it 
was discovered that the men whom the Europeans 
were fighting with were some of those who had fled 
from Tshaka, and whose course was marked by fire 
and blood. They were defeated with heavy loss, and 
as soon as they were scattered the Kosas and Tembus 
fell upon them and nearly exterminated them. 

In September 1828 Tshaka was murdered by two 
of his brothers, one of whom — Dingan by name — 
succeeded as chief of the Zulus. The new ruler was 
equally as cruel, but not so able as his predecessor. 
Under his government the military system was kept 
up, though the only people left within reach that he 
could exercise his arms upon were the Swazis. War 
with them was almost constant, but their country 
contained natural strongholds which enabled them 
to set Dingan, as they had set Tshaka, at defiance. 
Various armies, however, that had been put in motion 
at an earlier date were still moving on, some at a great 
distance from their starting places. 

One of these was under a chief named Moselekatse, 
whose reputation as a shedder of human blood is 
second only to that of Tshaka himself. He was in 
command of a division of the Zulu army, and had 
acquired the devoted attachment of the soldiers, when 
a circumstance occurred which left him no choice but 
flight. After a successful onslaught upon a tribe 
which he was sent to exterminate, he neglected to 



1 68 WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSHAKA 



forward the whole of the booty to his master, and 
Tshaka, enraged by such conduct, despatched a great 
army with orders to put him and all his adherents to 
death. These, receiving intimation of their danger in 




PORTRAIT OF DlNGANo 

{From a Sketch by Captain Gardiner.) 

time, immediately crossed the mountains and began 
to lay waste the central zone of the country that is 
now the South African Republic. 

The numerous tribes whose remnants form the 



RTSE OF THE MATABELE POWER. 1 69 

Bapedi of our times looked with dismay upon the 
athletic forms of the Matabele, as they termed the 
invaders. They had never before seen discipline so 
perfect as that of these naked braves, or weapon so 
deadly as the Zulu stabbing spear. All who could 
not make their escape were exterminated, except the 
comeliest girls and some of the young men who were 
kept as carriers. These last were led to hope that 
by faithful service they might attain the position ot 
soldiers, and from them Moselekatse filled up the 
gaps that occurred in his ranks. The country over 
which he marched was covered with skeletons, and 
literally no human beings were left in it, for his object 
was to place a desert between Tshaka and himself 
When he considered himself at a safe distance from 
his old home he halted, erected military kraals after 
the Zulu pattern, and from them as a centre his 
regiments traversed the land north, south, and west 
in search of spoil. 

It is impossible to give the number of Moselekatse's 
warriors, but it was probably not greater than ten 
thousand. Fifty of them were a match for more than 
five hundred Betshuana. They pursued these wretched 
creatures even when there was no plunder to be had, 
and slew many thousands in mere wantonness, in 
exactly the same spirit and with as litile compunc- 
tion as a sportsman shoots snipe. 

While the Matabele were engaged in their career 
of destruction, other bands were similarly employed 
farther north, so that by 1828 there was not a single 
Betshuana tribe left intact between the Magalisberg 
and the Limpopo. On the margin of the Kalahari 



170 WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSHAKA. 

desert several were still unbroken, though they had 
suffered severely. In 1830 Moselekatse moved against 
these tribes, and dispersed them. They were not ex- 
terminated, because they took refuge in the desert, 
where they found sustenance in places to which the 
Matabele could not pursue them ; but they were 
reduced to a very wretched state. 

After this Moselekatse built his military kraals on 
the banks of the Marikwa, and was lord of the country 
far and wide. 

Only one tribe escaped, and that the weakest and 
most degraded of all the southern Betshuana. The 
principal Batlapin kraal was then at the source of the 
Kuruman river, where missionaries resided for a short 
time at the beginning of the century. The station 
was soon abandoned, but was occupied again in 1817 
by agents of the London society, and four years later 
the reverend Robert Moffat went to live there. To- 
wards the close of 1829 Mr. Moffat visited Moselekatse, 
whose kraals were then about a hundred miles east of 
the Marikwa. The chief could not comprehend the 
character or the work of the missionary, but he was 
flattered by the friendship of such a man, and con- 
ceived a great respect for one who could weld two 
thick pieces of iron. He believed Mr. Moffat to be 
lord of the people at the Kuruman, and, to show his 
regard, he abstained from sending his warriors there. 
Thus the Batlapin, who would have fled from the 
smallest division of the Matabele army, were saved 
by the presence among them of a courageous and 
able European. 

Meantime in one corner of the vast waste that had 



GENIUS OF MOSHESH. 17I 

been created the process of reconstruction was going 
on. In the territory that is now called Basutoland a 
young man named Moshesh was collecting together 
dispersed people of various tribes, and forming them 
into a compact political body. He was only in rank 
the son of a petty captain, and his father was still 
living, so that under ordinary circumstances he 
would have had little chance of raising himself to 
power. But Moshesh possessed abilities of a very 
high order as a military strategist, a diplomatist, an 
organiser of society, and a ruler of men. His seat 
of government was Thaba Bosigo, an impregnable 
mountain stronghold. He prevented attacks of the 
Zulus by professing himself the humblest vassal of 
Tshaka and Dingan, and by frequently sending 
tribute of furs and feathers. All who submitted to 
him were treated alike, no matter to what tribe they 
originally belonged, and as much assistance as pos- 
sible was given to those who needed it. Even bands 
of cannibals were provided with grain and gardens, 
that they might become agriculturists once more. 
Men of tribes that had recently been destroying each 
other were induced to live side by side in friendship 
and peace. Thus a new community was forming 
under Moshesh, by far the ablest black ruler known 
in South Africa since the arrival of Europeans in the 
country. 

Moselekatse sent plundering parties against him, 
but his scouts gave warning in time, so that the 
raiders were not able to do much harm. In 1831 a 
Matabele army laid siege to Thaba Bosigo, but could 
not take the stronghold. When the besiegers were 






<<^,^^^'. 4 



l-Z'J 



\ i 









- M' 







■t 




CONDITION OF THE TRIBES IN 1 836. 173 

compelled by want of food to retreat, Moshesh 
provided, them with provisions sufficient for their 
homeward journey, and a friendly message accom- 
panied the gift. He was never again attacked by 
them. 

In 1833 missionaries of the Paris evangelical 
society went to reside with Moshesh, from whom 
they received a hearty welcome, as he recognised 
that their assistance in temporal matters would be 
of great service. In the same year a number of 
wandering bands — Bantu, Hottentots, and half-breeds 
— were persuaded by Wesleyan missionaries to settle 
on the right bank of the Caledon, not very far from 
Thaba Bosigo. 

In 1836 a vast portion of the territory east and 
north of the Cape Colony was lying waste. Between 
the Keiskama and Umzimvubu rivers were the Kosa, 
Tembu, and Pondo tribes, with the Fingos, and 
various clans driven down from the north. Mission- 
aries of the London, Glasgow, and Wesleyan societies 
were endeavouring to christianise and civilise these 
people. Between the Umzimvubu and Tugela rivers 
there were only five or six thousand inhabitants. 
North of the Tugela were the Zulus, under the chief 
Dingan, who had twenty-five or thirty thousand 
highly-trained soldiers at his command. 

Within the w^estern border of the present South 
African Republic, along the Marikwa river, were the 
Matabele military kraals ; but the greater portion of 
that vast territory was unoccupied, except in the most 
rugged places, where the broken remnants of former 
tribes were lurking. The present Orange Free State 



174 W^^^S AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSHAKA. 

contained a few hundred Griquas or people of mixed 
Hottentot, negro, and European blood, who had 
emigrated from the Cape Colony, a few hundred 
Hottentots of the Koran a tribe, the remnant of the 
horde under Ma Ntatisi around Lishuane, and some 
Bantu clans at Mekuatling, Thaba Ntshu, and Bethulie. 
In the territory now called British Betshuanaland the 
population consisted of the Batlapin tribe, some 
roving Koranas, and a few stragglers on the border 
of the desert. And in Basutoland there were the 
people collected by Moshesh. American missionaries 
were attempting to settle in Natal and with the Mata- 
bele on the Marikwa, a clergyman of the church 
of England had just gone to reside with Dingan, and 
missionaries of the Paris, London, Berlin, and Wesleyan 
societies were busy wherever there were inhabitants 
between the Kathlamba mountains and the desert. 




XV. 



EVENTS IN THE CAPE COLONY FROM 
1835- 



826 TO 



It is not a pleasant admission for an Englishman 
to make, but it is the truth, that it would be difficult 
to find in any part of the world a people with so 
much cause to be discontented as the old inhabitants 
of the Cape Colony for many years after the fall of 
the ministry of the earl of Liverpool. There was 
no sympathy whatever shown towards them by the 
authorities in England, in fact there was a decided 
antipathy, which was fostered by the so-called philan- 
thropic societies, then at the height of their power. 
The most outrageous stories concerning the colonists 
were circulated by men who bore the title of Christian 
teachers — and nothing was too gross to be believed 
in England, — until the word Boer (Dutch for Farmer) 
came to be regarded as a synonym for an ignorant 
and heartless oppressor of coloured people. It was 
useless for the governors to report differently, or for 
the courts of law to pronounce the stories libellous : 
the great societies condemned " the Boers," and the 
great societies represented and led public opinion in 



England. 



^75 



176 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

Something, however, must be said on the other 
side. The inhabitants of the Cape Colony were not 
all white people, and the British government tried to 
do what it held to be justice to the blacks. Then 
the whole number of Dutch colonists was only equal 
to the population of a third-class English town, and 
their sentiments must have been regarded as of little 
importance by those who were guiding the. destinies 
of a mighty empire. To make them fall into line 
with the notions of the day in Great Britain seemed 
not only easy, but the correct policy to carry out. 
No one imagined that they were capable of making 
any effectual opposition. 

In 1828 the whole of the courts of justice in the 
Cape Colony were remodelled after the English 
pattern. In the country districts the landdrosts and 
heemraden were done away with, and in their stead 
civil commissioners, resident magistrates, and justices 
of the peace were created. A supreme court was 
established, with judges appointed by the crown and 
independent of the governor, and though the Dutch 
code of law was retained, the forms of procedure 
were assimilated to those customary in England. 
Since that time criminal cases have been tried by a 
single judge and a jury of nine men, whose verdict 
must be unanimous in order to convict. 

At the same time the burgher senate was abolished, 
and the government took upon itself the municipal 
and other duties previously performed by that body. 
As if these sweeping changes were not sufficient 
irritation for the old colonists, a notice was issued 
that all documents addressed to the government 



myuDicious measures. 177 

must be written in English or have a translation 
attached, otherwise they would be returned to those 
who sent them. 

A little later one of the judges removed the 
criminal cases from the circuit court at Worcester 
to Capetown for trial, on the ground that there was 
not a sufficient number of English-speaking men to 
form a jury at Worcester, though the prisoners and 
the witnesses spoke Dutch only, and every word that 
they said had to be translated to the court. The 
judges were divided in opinion whether it was neces- 
sary for jurymen in every case to understand English, 
and the question remained open until 1831, when 
an ordinance was issued defining their qualifications, 
among which a knowledge of English was not 
included. In the interval, however, the burghers, 
who regarded their exclusion from the jury-box as an 
insult, were deeply incensed. But they sent in no 
memorials, because they would not be driven to have 
them written in English, and there was little hope of 
success had they even done so. 

And now was heard the first murmuring of a cry 
that a few years later resounded through the colony, 
and men and women began to talk of the regions 
laid waste by the Zulu wars, if it might not be 
possible to find there a refuge from British rule. 

One measure, however, was carried out at this time 
which gave general satisfaction. The salaries of the 
officials sent from England had been far beyond 
the means of the colony, and they were now greatly 
reduced. 

The condition of the Hottentots and other free 
13 



178 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

coloured people had long been a subject of discussion 
in England, where it was commonly believed that 
they were treated with much injustice. In reality it 
was not so, though there certainly were instances of 
ill usage, just as there are outrages in all countries 
of the world. 

After November 1809 Hottentots were not allowed 
to wander over the country without passes, and after 
April 18 1 2 Hottentot children born while their 
parents were in service, and maintained for eight 
years by the employers of their parents, were bound 
as apprentices for ten years longer. In the opinion 
of the governor who made this law it was better 
for the children that they should acquire industrious 
habits, even if restraint had to be used, than that they 
should become vagrants. The reverend Dr. Philip, 
however, who was superintendent of the London 
society's missions in South Africa, claimed for people 
of all colours and conditions exactly the same treat- 
ment ; and as the great philanthropical societies of 
England supported him, he was virtually master ot 
the position. 

In July 1828 an ordinance was issued which 
relieved the Hottentots and other free coloured 
people from the laws concerning passes and the 
apprenticeship of children, and placed them in all re- 
spects on a political level with Europeans. From that 
time the colony was overrun by idle wanderers to 
such an extent that farming could hardly be made to 
pay, and the coloured people were falling back in the 
scale of civilisation ; but when an attempt was made 
a few years later to get a vagrant act proclaimed, 



THE KAT RIVER SETTLEMENT. I79 

Dr. Philip and his party opposed the measure so 
strenuously that it had to be abandoned. 

Sir Lowry Cole, who became governor in 1828, 
caused between two and three thousand Hottentots- 
and people of mixed blood to be located at the Kat 
river, in the territory ceded by Gaika to the colony. 
Several small streams unite to form this river, and in 
their valleys the land is easily irrigated and is of great 
fertility. In the best places settlements were formed, 
each divided into plots of from four to six acres 
in extent, upon which a family was placed. The 
ground between the settlements was to remain as a 
commonage, each family having the right to graze 
cattle on it. The settlers were to remain five years 
on trial, at the end of which period those who had 
built cottages and tilled the ground were to receive 
grants in freehold, but every plot not improved 
within that time was to revert to government. For 
a while the settlement appeared to flourish. The 
government supplied seed corn, furrows for leading 
out water were made, and a large extent of ground 
was brought under cultivation. In the course of 
a few years, however, it was seen that the pure 
Hottentots could not sustain such efforts beyond 
two or three seasons, but there were many half- 
breeds among those to whom plots of ground were 
assigned, and they formed a more stable class. 

Early in 1834 Sir Benjamin D'Urban arrived as 
governor, with instructions from the secretary of 
state to carry out several important measures. The 
first was retrenchment of expenditure on a very 
extensive scale, as the colonial revenue was less 



l8o CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835 

than the outlay, and the public debt was increasing, 
Various offices were now combined, so that one 
man had to do the work previously performed by two, 
and all salaries were greatly reduced. The outlay 
on roads, buildings, and, indeed, everything main- 
tained by the government, was cut down as much 
as possible. 

The second measure was a slight change in the 
form of government, caused by the creation of 
distinct legislative and executive councils. The 
colonists had often sent petitions to England to be 
allowed to have a representative assembly, but these 
had always failed. At length, however, the imperial 
authorities resolved to make the government of the 
Cape appear a little less despotic, and for this 
purpose a legislative council was created. It con- 
sisted of the governor, as president, five of the 
highest officials, and five colonists selected by the 
governor. Its power can be inferred from a remark 
of Sir George Napier to one of the unofficial 
members who was combating the government view 
of a question : " You may spare your breath in this 
matter, everything of importance is settled before 
it comes here." Still it was a step — though a very 
short one — in the right direction. 

The council of advice previously existing now 
became an executive council, and was made to 
consist of four high officials. 

The third special object which Sir Benjamin 
D'Urban was instructed to carry into effect was 
the emancipation of the slaves. 

As long as the Dutch East India Company held 



CONDITION OF THE SLAVES. l8l 

the colony slaves were brought into it, but not in 
very large numbers, for their services were only 
needed to a limited extent. During the first British 
occupation a great many were imported, as the trade 
was then profitable, and English energy was employed 
in it. The Batavian government, being opposed to 
the system, allowed very few to be landed, and had 
it lasted a couple of years longer, every child born 
thereafter would have been declared free. 

The suppression of the foreign slave trade by the 
British government followed so closely upon the 
second conquest of the colony, that there was only 
time in the interval for five hundred negroes to be 
imported. From that date the increase in the 
number of slaves was due to the large excess of 
births over deaths. 

There never was an attempt in South Africa to 
defend the system in theory. Indeed, it was a 
common remark that it was worse for the white 
man, who had all the care and anxiety, than for 
the negro, who had only manual labour to perform. 
But it is not easy to disturb any system, good or 
bad, upon which the habits of a people have been 
formed, and in the Cape Colony money to the 
amount of over three million pounds sterling was 
invested in slaves. 

The testimony of every one competent to form a 
correct opinion concurred that in no other part of the 
world was bondage so light. Except in planting 
and harvesting the labour of the negroes was easy, 
and they certainly did not feel themselves degraded 
by compulsory service. They were the most light- 



l82 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

hearted of mortals. The English governors were 
of opinion that they enjoyed more comfort than 
labourers in Great Britain, and that the Dutch laws 
gave them sufficient protection against ill-usage. To 
judge of their condition by imagining what a Euro- 
pean would feel in a similar state leads to a false 
conclusion, for their hereditary training and line of 
thought were entirely different. 

In 1 8 16 laws began to be made for reducing the 
power of the masters and conferring rights upon the 
slaves, and almost every j'ear they increased in strin- 
gency. For some time the colonists made no objec- 
tion to them, but at length control over dependents 
was so limited that many negroes became insubordi- 
nate. Public meetings were then held, at which the 
opinion was maintained that the ties between master 
and slave were too weakened to bear further strain- 
ing. A resolution was passed with one voice at a 
meeting of slaveholders at Graaff-Reinet, and was 
generally agreed to in the other districts, that if the 
English government would stop irritating legisla- 
tion they would consent that from the date of the 
arrangement all female children should be free at 
birth, in order that slavery might gradually die out. 

Another plan was adopted by a few well-meaning 
persons in Capetown, who formed a society for aiding 
deserving slaves and slave children to purchase their 
freedom. The society collected subscriptions, and 
turned its attention chiefly to the emancipation of 
young girls. It hoped to receive aid in money from 
the British treasury and from benevolent persons in 
England, but was disappointed in both. With means 



EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES. 183 

limited almost entirely to colonial subscriptions, how- 
ever, it was able to purchase the freedom of about 
twenty- five girls j^early. 

In England neither of these plans met with favour. 

In 1830 an order in council was issued prescribing 
the quantity and quality of food to be given to slaves, 
the clothing that should be provided for them, the 
hours during which they should not be obliged to 
work, and many other matters. It was followed in 
1 83 1 by another order in council, limiting the hours 
of slave labour to nine daily, and nearly destroying 
the owners' authority. The excitement was now 
so great that the governor thought it necessary to 
prohibit public meetings and to threaten to banish 
any one who should attempt to disturb the peace. 

As soon as the clamour subsided, however, he gave 
his consent to a public meeting being held, and 
about two thousand slaveholders came together in 
Capetown. The utmost order was observed, though 
resolutions were carried that the lately made laws 
were highly unjust. The whole assembly then 
marched to the open space in front of government 
house, when two gentlemen were deputed to inform 
the governor that the slaveholders were prepared to 
suffer the penalties of the orders in council, but could 
not obey them. * 

The strain upon the colonists was so great that it 
was felt as a relief when in August 1833 an emanci- 
pation act, to have force in all the British posses- 
sions, was passed by the imperial parliament. For 
the Cape Colony it provided that on the ist of 
December 1834 slavery was to cease, and after a 



184 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1S35. 

short term of apprenticeship the negroes were to 
have exactly the same civil rights as white people. 
The sum of twenty million pounds sterling was voted 
to compensate the owners in the nineteen slave colo- 
nies of Great Britain, and the share of each colony 
was to be determined by the appraised value of its 
slaves. 

There was a general impression that this money 
would suffice to meet the whole, or nearly the whole, 
value of the slaves, and as most people believed that 
a vagrant act would be passed before the day of 
emancipation, they were disposed to accept the new 
condition of things without demur or heartburning. 

There were then in the colony thirty-nine thousand 
slaves, of whom between three and four thousand 
were aged or infirm, and the others were appraised 
at rather over three million pounds sterling. 

The year 1835 was well advanced when intelli- 
gence was received from England that the returns 
lor all the colonies v/ere complete, and that of the 
twenty millions sterling the share awarded to the 
Cape was a little less than one million and a quarter. 
The intelligence created a panic greater than any 
ever known before in South Africa. Many of the 
late slaves were mortgaged to the various institutions 
for lending money, and every bond contained a clause 
covering all other property. At once there was a 
demand for the redemption of the bonds, and goods 
and effects were sold at any price that could be 
obtained. In some instances slaves had been the 
sole property of widows, or minors, or aged people, and 
the late owners were at once reduced to indigence. 



EFFECTS OF THE EMANCIPATION. 185 

But the whole loss was not even yet known. 
Succeeding mails brought information that the im- 
perial government would not send the money to 
South Africa, but that each claim would have to be 
proved before commissioners in London, when the 
amount allowed would be paid in stock, after certain 
charges were deducted. This decision brought into 
the country a swarm of petty agents, who purchased 
claims at perhaps half their real value, so that a 
colonist, instead of receiving two-fifths of the ap- 
praised value of his slaves, often received only one- 
fifth or one-sixth. 

It would be difficult to picture too darkly the 
misery caused by this confiscation of two millions' 
worth of the property of a small and not over 
flourishing community. Some families never reco- 
vered from the blow. Aged men and women who 
had not before known want went down to the grave 
penniless, and in hundreds of the best households 
of the country the pinch of poverty was sorely felt. 
Emancipation in itself assuredly was a righteous act, 
for there can be nothing more abominable than one 
man holding another as property ; but a vast amount 
of distress might have been prevented by effecting it 
in the manner that the colonists proposed. 

In addition to the direct loss, the wheat and wine 
farmers for many years were unable to bring as much 
produce to market as before, owing to the scarcity of 
labour. One industry only — but that afterwards a 
very important one, — the breeding of merino sheep 
for the sake of wool, received a great impetus from 
the emancipation of the slaves, for it could be carried 



l86 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

on with fewer workmen than were required in agri- 
culture. 

The liberated slaves mostly flocked into the towns 
and villages, where missionary and philanthropic 
energy in all conceivable forms has ever since been 
expended upon them and their descendants. In 
general they can now exist by working perhaps half 
as many hours as before the emancipation, for much 
of their time is passed in idleness ; but they are 
neither more comfortably clothed or better fed or 
housed, nor— with few exceptions — have they made 
any perceptible intellectual advancement. 

On the other hand, they have probably improved 
in morals, very many of those who attend the mission 
chapels certainly have. As free agents their plea- 
sures continue to be of a low order. Given any 
noisy musical instrument, a bright sun, and a gaudy 
dress, and their mirth is unattainable by Europeans. 
Without energy, or ambition, or a thought of the 
responsibility of life, they manage to pass their days 
in an easy and joyous manner. 

Three of the special duties assigned to Sir Ben- 
jamin D' Urban have been mentioned : another was 
to enter into treaties of friendship with the native 
chiefs beyond the colonial frontier. 

Both on the north and the east the border was then 
in a disturbed condition. There was a band of free- 
booters — mostly Hottentots — plundering the graziers 
of the northern districts, and as their haunts were on 
some islands in the Orange river, which were covered 
with jungle and very difficult of access to strangers, 
they were able to set their pursuers at defiance. 



TREATY WITH WATERBOER. 187 

Farther up the river a petty Griqua captain, named 
Andries Waterboer, was living, and through the 
agency of his missionary a treaty was entered into 
with him. He was to receive ;^ioo a year as a 
subsidy for himself and ;^50 a year for a mission 
school, he was provided with two hundred muskets 
and a quantity of ammunition, and he engaged in 
return to be a faithful friend and ally of the colony 
and to preserve peace along the border from Kheis 
to Ramah. This was the first treaty of the kind ever 
made in South Africa, and it was the only one that 
answered its purpose. Waterboer kept his engage- 
ment, and the freebooters were rooted out. 

Sir Benjamin D'Urban intended to visit the eastern 
frontier to make similar arrangements with the 
Kosa chiefs, but was detained in Capetown by 
pressing business, and before he had been a year in 
the colony the sixth Kaffir war commenced. 

The plan of Lord Charles Somerset to keep the 
tract of land between the Fish and Keiskama rivers 
unoccupied soon proved a failure, as robbers made 
their way across it without difficulty. Then clans of 
Kosas supposed to be friendly — among others those 
under two sons of Gaika named Makoma and Tyali 
— were allowed to occupy the ground, in hope that 
they would prevent cattle-lifters passing through. 
But they proved to be as expert and unscrupulous 
robbers as ever the followers of Ndlambe had been, 
and it became necessary to make reprisals upon 
them just as upon the others. After a while 
Ndlambe and one of his sons were recognised by the 
government as chiefs of the people who through all 



l88 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

their troubles had adhered to them, and from that 
moment the sons of Gaika regarded the Europeans 
as enemies. 

Their conduct now became so bad that the 
governor was obliged to remove first one and then 
the other from the ceded territory, and this, of course, 
created a strong feeling of resentment on their 
part. In 1829 Gaika died, leaving a young lad 
named Sandile as his principal heir, when Makoma's 
power was greatly increased, as he became regent for 
his half-brother. Ndlambe had died in the preceding 
year, and quarrels arose among his sons and grand- 
sons, some of whom allied themselves with Makoma 
to gain support. Thus it happened that the family 
whose position the government had done so much 
to build up was now both strong and hostile. 

A rupture had long been threatening, when some 
Kosas, by stealing the horses of the officers at Fort 
Beaufort, drew a party of soldiers into a quarrel in 
which a petty captain was slightly wounded and 
some cattle belonging to Tyali were seized. This was 
announced by the chiefs to be a declaration of war, 
and a few days later — 21st of December 1834 — 
between twelve and twenty thousand warriors made 
a sudden rush into the colony, swept off nearly all the 
cattle east of the Sunday river, burned the houses, 
and murdered every white man who could not 
escape. Among others, most of the British settlers 
of 1820 who were living on farms were reduced to 
destitution. The unfortunate people had barely time 
to flee to Grahamstown, Bathurst, or some other place 
of refuge, and were compelled to abandon everything. 



SIXTH KAFFIR WAR. 1 89 

When intelligence of the invasion reached Cape- 
town, Colonel — afterwards Sir Harry — Smith hastened 
to the frontier, and began to organise a force to 
operate against the Kosas. The governor followed 
as speedily as possible. The burghers all over the 
colony were called out, and as soon as they could 
muster, an advance was made into Kaffirland, the 
raiders having in the meantime retired to the fast- 
nesses of their own country, after sending the cattle 
over the Kei to be guarded by Hintsa. 

The Kosas, as is their custom, refused to meet 
the Europeans on open ground, and it was no easy 
matter to deprive them of their strongholds. They 
simply retired from one jungle to another, after 
resisting as long as they could, and reoccupied every 
place that was not well guarded after being taken. 
To meet this difficulty, Sir Benjamin D'Urban 
formed several camps in commanding positions, from 
which patrols could be sent out frequently to scour 
the forests in their neighbourhood. It was the only 
plan open to him, but the country was too large to be 
held in subjection in this way by the force at his 
disposal. 

As soon as this arrangement was completed, the 
governor crossed the Kei with a considerable army 
to recover the cattle. Messages were sent to Hintsa 
offering peace if he would give them up, but for some 
time he made no reply. Colonel Smith was then 
directed to scour his country, and met with such 
success that the chief himself came to the British 
camp and agreed to the terms demanded. He left 
his son Kreli and one of his brothers as hostages with 



iqo CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

Sir Benjamin D'Urban, and volunteered to guide a 
detachment of troops and burghers under Colonel 
Smith to the place where the cattle were kept ; but 
on the way he attempted to escape, and was shot 
dead by a colonist who pursued him. 

Kreli succeeded his father as paramount chief of 





X 



cM^ 



PORTRAIT OF HINTSA. 

{From a Sketch by Captain Michell.) 

the Kosa tribe, and peace was concluded with him 
upon his undertaking to restore the cattle in instal- 
ments. The clans west of the Kei were still holding 
out, but in September 1835 they tendered their 
submission, and hostilities came to an end. 

The arrangements made by Sir Benjamin D'Urban 



THE PROVINCE OF QUEEN ADELAIDE. I9I 

for the preservation of peace were such as every one 
approves of at the present day. He brought some 
eighteen thousand Fingos from beyond the Kei, and 
gave them ground between the Keiskama and Fish 
rivers, where they would form a buffer for the 
colonists. They and the Kosas hated each other 
bitterly, and this feeling was deepened by their 
appropriating and taking with them twenty-two 
thousand head of cattle belonging to Kreli's people. 
It was thus to their interest to act honestly towards 
the Europeans, whose support alone could save them 
from destruction. Between the Keiskama and the 
Kei the western Kosa clans were located as British 
subjects, but a great deal of authority was left to the 
chiefs. The territory was named the Province of 
Queen Adelaide, and Colonel Smith was stationed 
at a place in it which was called King-Williamstown, 
to command the troops and control the chiefs. This 
plan of settlement commended itself to the great 
majority of the colonists and of the missionaries, who 
hoped that under it the Kosas would make rapid 
advances towards civilisation and that property on 
the border would be secure. 

There was, however, in Capetown — five hundred 
miles from the Kaffir frontier — a party under the 
leadership of the reverend Dr. Philip, that entirely 
disapproved of the governor's plans. It was composed 
of only a few individuals, but it had powerful support 
from abroad. This party desired the formation of 
states ruled by Bantu chiefs under the guidance of 
missionaries, and from which Europeans not favoured 
by missionaries should be excluded. It maintained 



192 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

the theory that the Kosas were an eminently docile 
and peaceably disposed people, who could easily be 
taught to do what was right, and who must therefore 
have been provoked to take up arms by great wrongs 
and cruelties. The utmost fear was expressed by 
its members that the Bantu tribes would perish if 
exposed to free intercourse with white people. 

To push his views Dr. Philip visited England with 
a Kosa and a half-breed Hottentot who had been 
trained by missionaries. A committee of the house 
of commons was at the time collecting information 
upon the aborigines in British colonies, and Dr. 
Philip appeared before it. His evidence was received 
at great length, and though it consisted largely of 
opinion, it was allowed to outweigh that of the 
officers of greatest experience in South African 
affairs. 

Before the committee of the house of commons 
appeared also a disappointed retired official from the 
colony, Captain Andries Stockenstrom, who de- 
nounced the proceedings of the government on the 
eastern frontier as unjust and oppressive. He asserted 
his belief that there were civilised nations in which 
the proportion of thieves was greater than among the 
Kosas, and he was of opinion that treaties could be 
made with the chiefs by which cattle-lifting could be 
suppressed. 

No evidence could have been more gratifying 
to the earl Glenelg, who in April 1835 became 
secretary of state for the colonies. He held the 
same views as Dr. Philip, and here was Captain 
Stockenstrom, a South African by birth, in full 



ACTION OF EARL GLENELG. I93 

accord with him. The secretary resolved at once 
to undo all that Sir Benjamin D'Urban had done. 
In a despatch, dated the 26th of December 1835, he 
announced that the sovereignty over the country 
between the Keiskama and the Kei must be with- 
drawn, because "it rested upon a war in which the 
original justice was on the side of the conquered, 
not of the victorious party." He asserted that " the 
Kosas had an ample justification of the war in the 
conduct which was pursued towards them by the 
colonists and the public authorities through a long 
series of years, they were urged to revenge and des- 
peration by the systematic injustice of which they 
had been the victims, and they had a perfect right to 
endeavour to extort by force that redress which they 
could not expect otherwise to obtain." He added 
that a lieutenant-governor would immediately be 
appointed for the eastern districts, who would be 
entrusted with authority to arrange border affairs in 
accordance with his views. 

The contents of this despatch spread consternation 
widely over South Africa. Outside of Dr. Philip's 
little party in Capetown there was but one opinion : 
that it destroyed all hope of the preservation of 
order, and placed life and whatever property was left 
in the eastern districts at the mercy of the Kosas. 
The next mail brought tidings that Captain Stocken- 
strom had been appointed lieutenant-governor, and 
might shortly be expected. The British settlers at 
once sent an earnest protest to England, with an 
appeal for a close investigation of all occurrences on 
the border, but they could obtain no redress. Sir 

14 



194 C^^^ COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 

Benjamin D'Urban wrote, pointing out that the 
colonists at any rate were free of blame, as they had 
no voice in devising the various modes of dealing 
with the Kosas that had been in force but the only 
result was his dismissal from office. To the Dutch 
colonists in the frontier districts who still possessed 
the means of moving there seemed to be but one 
course open : to flee from British rule, and to seek 
a new home somewhere in the vast wilderness left 
unpeopled by the wars of Tshaka. 




XVI. 

GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE COLONY. 
EXPULSION OF MOSELEKATSE FROM THE 
TERRITORY SOUTH OF THE LIMPOPO. 

To people in England one of the strangest events 
of the present century is the abandonment of their 
homes by thousands of Cape colonists after 1836, 
and their braving all the hardships of life in the 
wilderness for no other cause than to be free of 
British rule. Yet there is nothing to cause surprise 
in the matter, if the character of the Dutch people is 
considered. These colonists were of the same blood 
as the men who withstood the great power of Philip 
11 of Spain, who laid the richest part of their 
country under water rather than surrender it to 
Louis XIV of France. They were not the men and 
women to submit to what they believed to be mis- 
rule, if there was a possibility of successful resistance 
or a chance of making their escape. 

Many of them, as we have seen, were accustomed 
to live in waggons and to subsist to a large extent 
upon game, so that moving deeper into the continent 
was in itself no great difficulty. Before them was a 

195 



196 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE. 

great waste swarming with wild animals, what wonder 
that they should move into it with such powerful 
motives to urge them on. 

Let us look again briefly at the grievances which 
determined their conduct. First, there was subjection 
by a foreign and. unsympathetic government. Second, 
there was the prohibition of their language in the 
public offices and courts of law. Third, there was 
the superintendent of the London missionary society, 
their ablest and most relentless opponent, in posses- 
sion of boundless influence with the British authorities. 
Fourth, there were the slanderous stateme ts made 
by the philanthropic societies in England concerning 
them. Fifth, there was the sudden emancipation of 
their slaves without adequate compensation. Sixth, 
there was the whole mass of the coloured people placed 
upon a political footing with them, and that without 
a vagrant act being put into force. Seventh, there 
was no security for life or property in the eastern 
districts, which were exposed to invasion by the 
Kosas, as the secretary of state took part with the 
barbarians. These were the chief causes of the great 
emigration, and there were many others of less 
importance. 

And now all over the frontier districts the great 
waggons were laden with household goods and pro- 
visions and ammunition, and bands of people set out 
to seek a new home in the north. Each party was 
usually made up of families related to each other, 
and the man of greatest influence in it was elected 
its leader, with the title of commandant. The horned 
cattle, horses, sheep, and goats were driven slowly on, 



FATE OF THE FIRST PARTY. I97 

and often when the pasture was good the caravans 
would rest for weeks together. They went up from 
the grass-covered hills along the coast and the bare 
Karoo farther inland, till they came to one or other 
of the steep passes into the elevated basin drained 
by the Orange and its numerous tributaries. With 
twenty to thirty oxen before each waggon they 
struggled up, and then went on without difficulty 
down the long slope to the river and across the wide 
plains of the present Orange Free State. 

North of the Orange the emigrants regarded them- 
selves as beyond English authority, for over and over 
again it had been officially announced that Great 
Britain would not enlarge her possessions in South 
Africa. 

The first party that left the colony made its way 
northward to the Zoutpansberg, where it divided into 
two sections of about fifty individuals each. One of 
these sections was cut off by a band of blacks, and 
all its members except two children were murdered. 
The other attempted to explore the country to 
Delagoa Bay, but lost its cattle by the tsetse, and 
was then attacked by fever, from which only one man 
and barely half the women and children recovered- 
The unfortunate survivors after almost incredible 
hardships reached Delagoa Bay, where they were 
very kindly treated by the Portuguese authorities, 
being provided with food and shelter until their 
friends could send a vessel from Natal to rescue 
them. 

The second party was much larger, and was under 
the leadership of a man of considerable ability, 



198 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE. 

named Hendrik Potgieter. It moved slowly on until 
it reached the banks of the Vet river, a tributary of 
the Vaal, where it halted. Potgieter found here a 
native captain in a very wretched condition, who 
claimed to be the descendant of chiefs that had once 
ruled over numerous followers in a wide expanse of 
country. Having lived long in fear of doing .any- 
thing that might bring him to the knowledge of 
Moselekatse, he was delighted at the appearance of 
the white people, especially when he received from 
them a very liberal offer. Potgieter proposed that he 
should sell the country which he claimed, except a 
reserve of ample size for himself and his followers, 
and receive in exchange protection and a small herd 
of cattle. The captain at once consented, and then 
the emigrants took possession of the land between 
the Vet and Vaal rivers, some of them even moving 
beyond the Vaal. 

After a while Commandant Potgieter and eleven 
others went out to explore the country northward, 
and travelled as far as the Zoutpansberg, where they 
were much pleased with the fertility of the soil and 
the rich pasture. They believed also that communi- 
cation with the outer world could be opened through 
Delagoa Bay, so that the country seemed to offer 
every advantage that could be desired for a settle- 
ment. 

In high spirits they set out to return to their 
families, but on arriving at the place where they had 
left the last waggons they were struck with horror by 
finding that many of their friends had been massacred 
in a dreadful manner not long before. A band of 



ATTACK BY THE MAT ABE LE. I99 

Moselekatse's warriors, while traversing the country 
to keep it from being occupied, had suddenly come 
upon a little party of white people, and murdered 
all who could not escape. Most of those along the 
Vaal, however, had notice in time to draw their 
waggons around them, and, when attacked, were able 
to beat off their assailants. The Matabele soldiers 
then returned to the Marikwa for reinforcements. 

Potgieter immediately selected a suitable hill, and 
formed a strong lager on it, by lashing fifty waggons 
together in a circle^ and filling all the open spaces 
except a narrow entrance with thorn trees. He had 
not long to wait before the Matabele attacked him. 
They rushed upon the lager with loud hisses, but 
were received with a deadly fire from the forty men 
inside, and were obliged to fall back. Again they 
rushed on regardless of death, and strove to tear the 
waggons apart, but could not. The forty defenders 
of the lager were keeping up a rapid fire, for their 
wives and mothers were loading spare guns for their 
use. As a last resource the men of one of the 
Matabele regiments threw their spears over the 
waggons, where over eleven hundred were afterwards 
picked up, and when this failed they withdrew, but 
drove off the whole of the emigrants' cattle. They 
left a hundred and fifty-five corpses outside the lager. 

Potgieter's party was now in great distress. In- 
cluding servants, forty-six of its members had been 
murdered, and the survivors were in a solitary waste 
without the means of moving and with very little food. 
Fortunately, however, the third band of emigrants, 
under Commandant Gerrit Maritz, had just encamped 



200 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM 7 HE CAPE. 

at Thaba Ntshu, and learning what had happened, 
sent oxen to bring away the unfortunate people and 
their effects. 

And now it was to be seen what metal the emi- 
grants were made of. It might be thought that with 
such -experience they would have retreated at once, 
but the idea of abandoning their project never 
occurred to one of them. Instead of fleeing from 
Moselekatse, they resolved to attack him in his own 
kraal, and punish him severely for what he had done. 
One hundred and seven farmers mustered for this 
purpose, and with them went forty half-breeds and a 
few blacks to look after the horses. A deserter from 
the Matabele army volunteered to act as guide. 

So thoroughly depopulated was the country that 
not an individual was met between Thaba Ntshu and 
Mosega, and the commando under Potgieter and 
Maritz was able to surprise the southernmost military 
kraal of the Matabele one morning at break of day. 
Moselekatse himself was not there at the time, and 
the induna in command of the soldiers happened also 
to be absent. This was a fortunate circumstance for 
the farmers. The soldiers grasped their spears and 
shields, and rushed forward ; but volleys of slugs 
drove them back in confusion, and there was no one 
of sufficient authority to restore order. They took to 
flight, and were hunted by the farmers until the sun 
w^as high overhead, when it was computed that at 
least four hundred must have been slain. The com- 
mando then set fire to the kraal, and with nearly 
seven thousand head of cattle returned to Thaba 
Ntshu. 



THE FIRST CONSTITUTION-. 201 

After this Potgieter's party formed a camp on the 
Vet river, at a place to which the name Winburg was 
given in memory of the recent victory. There it was 
strengthened by the arrival of numerous families 
from the colony. 

At this time also a band reached Thaba Ntshu 
from the Winterberg with a very able man, named 
Pieter Retief, as its head. 

On the 6th of June 1837 a general assembly of 
the emigrants was held at Winburg, when a pro- 
visional constitution, consisting of nine articles, was 
adopted. The supreme legislative power was en- 
trusted to a single elective chamber termed the volks- 
raad, the fundamental law was declared to be the 
Dutch, a court of landdrost and heemraden was 
created, and the chief executive authority was con- 
fided to Mr. Retief with the title of commandant- 
general. The strong feeling of antagonism that Dr. 
Philip had roused is shown in one of the articles of 
the constitution, which provided that every member 
of the community and all who should thereafter 
join them must take an oath to have no connection 
with the London missionary society. That body 
was regarded by them as purely a political institu- 
tion, advocating and spreading principles of anarchy ; 
and they regarded it as something like blasphemy to 
speak of its superintendent in Capetown as a minister 
of the gospel. 

Fresh bands of emigrants were frequently arriving, 
and some of them thought it would be better to go 
down into Natal than to remain on the highlands of 
the interior. Pieter Uys, the leader of one of these 



202 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE. 

bands, had visited Natal a couple of years before, 
and waxed eloquent when describing its beauty and 
fertility. Retief himself was inclined to favour a 
settlement near the sea, but before making up his 
mind finally, he and some others proceeded to inspect 
the country below the mountains and ascertain if 
Dingan would dispose of it. 

While they were away the second expedition 
against the Matabele set out. It consisted of one 
hundred and thirty-five farmers in two divisions, 
under Hendrik Potgieter and Pieter Uys. Mosele- 
katse was found on the Marikvva, about fifty miles 
north of Mosega, and he had with him at least twelve 
thousand warriors, all splendidly trained and as brave 
as any troops that ever lived. But the advantage of 
the farmers in their guns and horses was so great 
that the hundred and thirty-five did not hesitate to 
attack a force which was to theirs as ninety to one. 

For nine days the Matabele tried to reach their 
opponents, but all their efforts were in vain. The 
farmers were more than once nearly surrounded, still 
their plans were so perfect that they were never 
quite entrapped. They had Httle else than dried 
meat to live upon, and they had no resting-place but 
the bare ground with a saddle for a pillow. Only 
the hardiest of men and horses could have carried 
on aggressive operations so long. 

The loss of the Matabele was great, so great that 
at the end of the nine days Moselekatse gave up the 
contest and sought only to escape. With his people 
and his cattle he fled to the north, and in the country 
beyond the Limpopo commenced to destroy the 



DEFEAT OF THE MATABELE. 203 

Mashona tribes as he had destroyed the southern 
Betshuana. The farmers were too wearied to follow 
him, and indeed they could not have continued in 
the field much longer under any circumstances, so 
they contented themselves by seizing six or seven 
thousand head of cattle, with which they returned to 
Winburg. 

After the flight of Moselekatse, Commandant 
Potgieter issued a proclamation, in which he declared 
that the whole of the territory which that chief had 
overrun and now abandoned was forfeited to the 
emigrants. It included the greater part of the present 
South African Republic, fully half of the present 
Orange Free State, and the whole of Southern 
Betshuanaland to the Kalahari desert, except the 
district occupied by the Batlapin. This immense 
tract of country was then almost uninhabited, and 
must have remained so if the Matabele had not been 
driven out. 




XVII. 

DESTRUCTION OF THE ZULU POWER AND FOUNDA- 
TION OF THE REPUBLIC OF NATAL. 



In all the world there is not a fairer country than 
the pleasant land of Natal, stretching in steps from 
the Drakensberg, which bounds it like a mighty wall, 
downward to the shore of the Indian sea. The coast 
belt is covered with sub-tropical vegetation, for it is 
heated by the warm Mozambique current, which runs 
southward along it, and gives it a higher temperature 
than is due to its distance from the equator. Each 
terrace, as the traveller ascends, is cooler than the one 
below, though it is nowhere cold. It is a well-watered 
land. Numerous streams, issuing from the Drakens- 
berg and the fronts of the lower terraces, rush along 
in deep gorges to the sea, and carry off the super- 
abundant moisture, so that it is also well drained. 
Its soil is rich, its forests yield excellent cimber, and 
the grass in its valleys resembles a meadow. Its 
climate everywhere is healthy for Europeans. 

When Pieter Retief and his companions went down 

into it by a pass they had discovered, there were 

between the Tugela and Umzimvubu rivers only from 

204 



NATAL AND ZULULAND IN 1837. 205 

five to ten thousand inhabitants. These acknowledged 
as their chiefs a few Englishmen whom Tshaka and 
Dingan permitted to reside at the port, and who 
carried on trade with the Zulu despot The present 
colony of Natal is far short of the Umzimvubu on the 
south, but it contains in the north the tract of land 
between the Tugela and Buffalo rivers, which was 
then partly occupied by Zulu subjects, of whose 
number it is impossible to give an estimate. 

Retief liked the appearance of the country, and the 
accounts which he received from the Englishmen at 
the port confirmed his impression. These Englishmen 
had in vain petitioned the imperial government to 
declare it a British possession, so now they were only 
too glad to welcome the emigrant farmers. Two of 
them, who had been in the country thirteen years 
and who spoke Zulu as well as English, accompanied 
Retief to Dingan's residence in the capacity of guides 
and interpreters. 

The Zulu capital was called Umkungunhlovu. It 
was in the shape of an enormous hollow circle formed 
by concentric rows of huts that served as barracks for 
the soldiers. The interior space was the drill ground. 
An English missionary clergyman, named Owen, was 
living there at the time, but he had not been able to 
get any one to listen to his teaching. There was also 
an English lad named William Wood — son of one of 
the residents at Port Natal — who was a favourite of 
Dingan and his confidential interpreter. 

The despot received Retief with every show of 
friendship. There was a grand parade, apparently 
to please him, and a big dance in which highly trained 



ARRANGEMENT WITH DINGAN. 20'J 

oxen took part with soldiers. Beef in huge pieces was 
sent to the visitors from the chief's own eating mat, 
which served as a dish does on a European table, and 
the best millet beer, such as Dingan himself was used 
to drink huge draughts of, was supplied in calabashes 
of the largest size. 

When Retief spoke about Natal, the chief said he 
might have it for his countrymen to live in, but first 
he must prove his friendship by recovering a herd of 
about seven hundred cattle that Sikonyela, son of 
Ma Ntatisi, had recently stolen from a Zulu outpost. 
Retief accepted the condition, and upon his return 
to Winburg sent for Sikonyela, whose residence was 
at Imparani, north of the Caledon, and required him 
to surrender Dingan's oxen and some horses he had 
stolen from the emigrants. They were given up 
without bloodshed, and then nearly a thousand 
white-tilted waggons in a long line went down the 
steep pass of the Drakensberg and halted on the 
banks of the Bluekrans and Bushman's rivers in the 
uplands of Natal. 

Retief now prepared to proceed to Umkungunhlovu 
with the cattle. There were among the emigrants 
men who were suspicious of Dingan's good faith, and 
who thought their leader should not risk a life of such 
value to the community by going again himself, but 
he was so confident in the chiefs friendly disposition 
that he would not listen to them. Sixty-five Euro- 
peans and about thirty Hottentot servants accompanied 
him. 

They were received, as before, with every outward 
show of respect and hospitality, and Dingan expressed 



208 MASSACRE OF EMIGRANTS. 

himself well pleased with the restoration oi his cattle. 
He requested the reverend Mr. Owen to draw up a 
paper to show that he had given Natal to Retief, and 
when this was done in the English language and trans- 
lated to him, he said it was correct and handed it to 
the emigrant leader. The farmers were so entirely 
thrown off their guard that when they were ready to 
leave and were invited to go into the centre of the 
kraal to partake of some beer and bid adieu to the 
chief, they left their guns outside. They were seated 
on the ground without a thought of danger, when 
Dingan suddenly exclaimed " Seize them ! " and 
immediately a regiment of soldiers rushed upon 
them, drew them to the place of execution, and 
broke their skulls with clubs. Not a single emigrant 
or a Hottentot, not even their English interpreter from 
Port Natal, was suffered to escape. 

A few hours later some ten thousand soldiers left 
Umkungunhlovu, and, after eleven days' march, at 
early dawn one morning fell upon the most advanced 
emigrant encampment, which was near the present 
village of Weenen. Who can describe in adequate 
language the horrors that loUowed .? Babes with 
their brains dashed out against waggon wheels, 
women ripped up with Zulu spears, girls and boys 
with their necks twisted, were lying thick on the 
ground when the sun rose that morning. Forty-one 
white men, fifty-six white women, one hundred and 
eighty-five white children, and about two hundred 
and fifty coloured servants perished in the dreadful 
massacre. Needless to say, the waggons and their 
contents were utterly destroyed. 



DESPERATE FIGHTING. 209 

Every emigrant in Natal must have met a similar 
fate had not, providentially, a young man been awake 
and close to a cattle kraal when the assault was made. 
He managed to spring on an unsaddled horse, and 
rode with all speed to give warning to the parties 
farther on. These had barely time to draw their 
waggons around them when the Zulus appeared, but 
though the most desperate efforts were made by the 
savage warriors, the simple lagers proved effective, for 
not one of them was taken. The courage, and skill, 
and coolness in danger displayed that day by the 
emigrants, men and women alike, have never been 
excelled in the world's history. The Zulus, too, were 
brave, and literally heaps of their dead lay around the 
lagers before they turned to retreat. At dusk they 
set out for Umkungunhlovu with as many cattle as 
they could collect. 

The night was spent by the emigrants in watch- 
fulness and prayer, each little party hardly daring 
to hope that any other had escaped. Next morning 
communication between the lagers was opened, and 
the full extent of their loss became known. Their 
first care now was to concentrate and strengthen an 
encampment, in case the Zulus should renew the 
attack, and then a general assembly was held to 
decide what was to be done. One or two men 
proposed that they should leave Natal, but they were 
put to shame by the women, who declared they 
would never abandon the country till the Zulu=; were 
punished for shedding so mnch innocent blood. This 
feeling was general, for it was regarded as a duty to 
bring the murderers to account. Then they put up 

15 



210 INVASION OF ZULULAND, 

an earnest prayer .to the God of heaven that He 
would not forsake His people, nor allow the heathen 
to triumph over them. From the bible — the only- 
book with which they were thoroughly conversant — 
they drew consolation and hope, which enabled them 
to bear up against their trouble, and to take courage 
for the prosecution of the task before them. 

When these events took place, Pieter Uys was at 
the top of the Drakensberg in readiness to go down, 
and Hendrik Potgieter was at Winburg, as his party 
preferred to remain on the interior highland. Both 
of them now collected as many fighting men as 
possible, and hastened to the assistance of the dis- 
tressed people in Natal. The Englishmen at the 
port also, having lost two of their companions in the 
massacres, offered to help with all their followers, 
many of whom were trained soldiers who had deserted 
from the Zulu army. 

When it came to a question of who was to be the 
leader, however, jealousy of each other — the bane of 
the emigrants — showed itself at once. Even Pieter 
Retief could not preserve perfect concord among the 
various heads of parties, and after his death there 
was no one whom all the others would admit as a 
superior. At length it was arranged that the English 
chiefs with their people should attack Dingan on one 
side while Potgieter and Uys attacked him on another, 
and Maritz should remain at the camp to protect it. 

The two commandants, with three hundred and 
forty-seven men, rode directly towards the Zulu 
capital. After five days' march through an unin- 
habited country, they came in sight of a division 



DEATH OF PIETER UYS, 211 

of the Zulu army, which they attacked impetuously, 
and were drawn into a skilfully planned ambuscade. 
Before them were two parallel ranges of hills, with a 
long defile between them, and into this the farmers 
were led by the Zulus apparently retreating before 
them. Uys's division was in advance. When in the 
narrowest part of the gorge they found themselves 
surrounded by an immense force which had been 
lying in ambush, and by which they were so hemmed 
in that they could not fall back rapidly after firing 
and again load and charge, as was their mode of 
fighting with Moselekatse. They therefore directed 
all their fire upon the mass of the enemy behind 
them, when, having cleared a path by shooting down 
hundreds, they rushed through and escaped. Ten of 
them were killed, and they were obliged to leave their 
led horses, baggage, and spare ammunition behind. 
Among the slain was Commandant Uys, who was 
assisting a wounded comrade when he received a stab 
from an assagai. His son. Dirk Cornells Uys, a boy 
of fifteen years of age, was some distance off, but, 
looking about, he saw his father on the ground, and 
a Zulu in the act of stabbing him. The gallant youth 
turned his horse and rode to help his parent, but 
could only die at his side. 

A few days later seventeen Englishmen left Port 
Natal with about fifteen hundred blacks, of whom 
between three and four hundred were armed with 
muskets. A few miles south of the Tugela they 
came upon a Zulu regiment, which pretended to 
take to flight, left food cooking on fires, and even 
threw away a number of shields and assagais. The 



212 DESTRUCTION OF THE NATAL ARMY.. 

Natal army pursued with all haste, crossed the 
Tugela, took possession of a kraal on the northern 
bank, and then found it had been drawn between 
the horns of a Zulu army fully seven thousand 
strong. 

The battle that was fought, on the 17th of April 
1838, was one of the most desperate contests that 
ever took place on that bloodstained soil. Three 
times in succession the Natal army beat back the 
regiments that charged furiously upon it. Then a 
strong Zulu reinforcement came in sight, and renewed 
the enemy's courage. Another rush was made, which 
cut the Natal army in two, and all hope of successful 
resistance was over. One of the divisions tried to 
escape by the only open path, which was down a 
steep bank of the Tugela and across that river. A 
Zulu regiment hastened to cut off the retreat of the 
fugitives, and many were killed in the water ; but 
four Englishmen and about five hundred blacks 
managed to get through. The other division was 
entirely surrounded. But no lion at bay ever created 
such havoc among hounds that worried him as this 
little band caused among the warriors of Dingan 
before it perished. The young regiments were 
selected to charge upon it, while the veterans 
watched their prowess from a neighbouring hill. 
Whole masses went down before the withering 
fire, the survivors recoiled, but again they were 
directed to charge. At last a rush of a regiment, 
with another in reserve close behind, carried every- 
thing before it, and the stubborn fight was over. 
Thirteen Englishmen lay dead on the field of battle, 



ARRIVAL OF ANDRIES PRETORIUS. 213 

with a thousand Natal blacks and probably three 
times that number of Zulus. 

After these disasters the emigrants were unable 
to take the offensive again for some time. Owing 
to the excessive jealousy between the leaders, 
Potgieter and his adherents left Natal and went 
to reside along the Mooi river, where they founded 
the village of Potchefstroom. Those who remained 
behind did not venture far from their fortified camp, 
and suffered much from sickness and insufficiency 
of food. While in this distress, however, they were 
strengthened by the arrival of many of their friends 
from the colony, and they never once gave up hope 
of ultimate success. During the winter Dingan sent 
an army to attack them, but they were careful not 
to be drawn out of the lager by stratagem, and all 
attempts to reach them behind their defences failed 

In November a man of great natural ability, named 
Andries Pretorius, arrived in Natal, and was elected 
commandant-general. He at once assembled a force 
of four hundred and sixty-four men, all that could be 
spared from guarding the camp, and marched towards 
Umkungunhlovu. He took with him a sufficient 
number of waggons to form a lager, and at every 
halting-place these were drawn up in a circle and 
lashed together. While on the march scouts were 
patrolling in all directions to guard against surprise. 

The commando resembled an itinerant prayer 
meeting rather than a modern army, for the men 
were imbued with the same spirit as the Ironsides 
of Cromwell, and spoke and acted in pretty much 
the same manner. There was no song, no jest heard 



214 DEFEAT OF A ZULU ARMY, 

in that camp, but prayers were poured forth and 
psalms were sung at every halting-place. The army 
made a vow that if God would give them victory over 
the cruel heathen, they would build a church and 
set apart a thanksgiving day in every year to com- 
memorate it. The church in Pietermaritzburg and 
the annual celebration of Dingan's day bear witness 
that they kept their pledge. They did not wish to 
fight merely for the sake of revenge. On three 
occasions the scouts brought in some captured 
Zulus, and Mr. Pretorius immediately sent these to 
Dingan to inform him that if he would restore the 
property taken from the emigrants they were prepared 
to enter into negotiations for peace. 

Dingan's reply came in the form of an army ten 
or twelve thousand strong, which attacked the camp 
at early dawn on Sunday the i6th of December 
1838. For two full hours the soldiers persevered in 
the attempt to force a way in, notwithstanding the 
terrible havoc created among them by the fire from 
the farmers' guns and several small pieces of artillery. 
When at length they broke and fled, over three 
thousand corpses were lying on the ground, and 
a stream that flowed past the field of carnage was 
discoloured with gore. It has ever since been 
called the Blood river. 

Pretorius marched to Umkungunhlovu as rapidly 
as possible, but before he could reach the Zulu capital 
Dingan set it on fire, and fled. He was pursued, but 
escaped to a part of the country where cavalry could 
not act, so the commando returned to Natal with four 
or five thousand cattle, all that were seen. In the 



REVOLT OF PANDA. 215 

campaign six white men were killed and three were 
wounded. 

Since the commencement of hostilities Dingan had 
lost about ten thousand warriors, but his army was 
still so large that he was by no means humbled. 
When the farmers retired he rebuilt his capital, 
and though he pretended to fall in with overtures 
which were made for peace, it soon became evident 
that he was only watching for an opportunity to 
destroy the emigrants. It was therefore not con- 
sidered advisable to scatter upon farms, so a town, 
named Pietermaritzburg, was laid out in such a 
manner that each family could have a large garden, 
and the cattle could be kept under constant pro- 
tection. 

In September 1839 a very important event took 
place in the Zulu country. Panda, a half-brother 
of Dingan, conspired to seize the chieftainship. A 
great number of the incorporated Zulus — the 
remnants of tribes that had come under Tshaka 
as the only means of saving themselves — were 
ready to rally round any leader who could give 
them reasonable hope of deliverance from incessant 
bloodshed, and when the induna Nongalaza, who 
was in command of the district along the northern 
bank of the Tugela, declared for Panda, they joined 
him. The rebel chief with a large following then 
crossed the Tugela, and sent to ask assistance from 
the Europeans. 

The emigrants at first regarded him with suspicion, 
as it was by no means certain that his flight was not 
merely a pretence to draw them to destruction. But 



2X6 DESTRUCTION OF THE ZULU POWER. 

he soon convinced them of his sincerity, and an 
arrangement was then entered into by which he 
became a vassal of the emigrants in consideration 
of receiving their support. He remained in Natal 
under their protection until January 1840, when a 
burgher force of four hundred men under Com- 
mandant - General Pretorius marched with him 
against Dingan. His own army was about five 
or six thousand strong, and was commanded by 
Nongalaza. It marched in a parallel line, but at 
a distance of twelve or fifteen miles from the 
burgher commando. 

Dingan now realised the danger of his position, and 
attempted to come to terms with the emigrants. 
There were two officers immediately under him, 
whose advice he frequently sought, and through 
whom he carried on his government. Their names 
were Tambusa and Umthlela. The first named 
he sent to the European camp to negotiate for 
peace. 

Upon Tambusa's arrival, he and his servant 
Kombazana were made prisoners, and contrary to 
all law and justice were brought to trial before a 
court-martial for having taken part in the massacre 
at Umkungunhlovu, were sentenced to death, and 
were executed. 

A few hours after this great crime was committed 
a messenger from Nongalaza brought word to the 
burgher column that on the preceding day, 30th of 
January 1840, he had fought a great battle with 
Dingan's army led by Umthlela, and had won a 
complete victory 



FINAL DEFEAT OF DING AN. 2iy 

This battle proved a decisive one. At its com- 
mencement Dingan's army was superior in number, 
but during the action a body of his troops went 
over to Panda's side, and turned the scale. Those 
who were faithful stood their ground, and fell as 
became Zulu warriors. The slaughter on each side 
was enormous. The two best regiments of Dingan 
perished, for the veterans who had won their plumes 
under Tshaka preferred to die rather than show their 
backs to the traitors who had deserted their cause. 
Umthlela placed himself at the head of the reserve, 
and went into the hottest part of the field, where he 
was pierced through the heart with an assagai. Still 
the issue of the day was doubtful, when the cry 
echoed along Nongalaza's ranks : " The farmers are 
coming ! " It was not so, but the belief that it was 
answered Nongalaza's purpose. The remnant of 
Dingan's army, the men who could not flee from 
a foe armed with spear and shield, gave way in 
their fear of those dreaded horsemen who had 
power to deal out death without meeting it them- 
selves. A bushy country spread out before them, 
and favoured their escape. The battle was over, 
and the terror which the Zulu name had inspired 
was a thing of the past. 

Dingan fled northward to the border of the Swazi 
country, where he was soon afterwards assassinated 
by a man who stole upon him unawares. Those who 
had adhered to him in his misfortunes then tendered 
their submission to Panda, by whom they were 
received with every mark of favour. 

After the decisive engagement an enormous booty 



2l8 DESTRUCTION OF THE ZULU POWER. 

in cattle fell into the hands of the conquerors. About 
forty thousand head were delivered to Mr. Pretorius, 
and were subsequently distributed among the emi- 
grants in proportion to their losses. 

Mr. Pretorius then formally installed Panda as 
chief of the Zulus, but in vassalage to the 
volksraad, to which he promised fidelity. The 
republic of Natal was declared to extend from 
the Umzimvubu to the Tugela, and the land 
between the Tugela and Black Umvolosi was pro- 
claimed an appanage of that republic, set apart 
for the use of the Zulu people. 




XVIII. 

SEIZURE OF NATAL BY BRITISH FORCES. CREATION 
OF TREATY STATES ALONG THE FRONTIER OF 
THE CAPE COLONY. 



The emigrant farmers had now freed South Africa 
of the destructive Zulu power, and had driven 
the ferocious Matabele into regions unknown to 
Europeans. Seldom have such great events been 
accomplished by means apparently so feeble. Yet 
they took no credit to themselves for what they had 
done, because in their view it was God who had 
wrought the great deliverance, and they were merely 
humble instruments in His hands. No Israelite of 
old ever held a belief of this kind more firmly than 
did these wanderers who had suffered so much and 
acted so bravely. 

It was, however, soon evident that they were less 
qualified for self-rule than for war, as the government 
which they established was the weakest and most 
imprudent that ever existed. It could not be carried 
on efficiently without a suitable revenue, and they 
refused to pay any but the most trifling taxes. Every 
measure of importance after adoption by the volks- 



220 SEIZURE OF NATAL BY BRITISH FORCES. 

raad had to be referred to the burghers in primary 
assembly, and nothing but confusion was the result 
The public offices from the highest to the lowest — 
with a solitary exception — were held by uneducated 
men, who could barely write an ordinary letter, and 
who were of course ignorant of routine duties. 
Above all, the utmost prudence was needed to avoid 
irritating the British government, and they acted as if 
they could afford to be indifferent to English opinion. 
The elevation of the coloured races was then a 
leading — and surely a praiseworthy — idea in England, 
but, unfortunately, the great philanthropic and mis- 
sionary societies had made up their minds as to the 
precise manner in which this should be effected, and 
condemned as unchristian all views that differed from 
their own. Applying their principles to South Africa, 
the formation of large Bantu states under missionary 
guidance and British protection was what they desired, 
and the reverend Dr. Philip, the exponent of their 
views, was urging this scheme upon the Cape govern- 
ment. Time has shown how faulty it was, but no 
one even in this country could foresee the full extent 
of the harm it would cause to the black people as 
well as to the white. The devastations which the 
Zulus and Matabele had wrought were unknown in 
Europe, and therefore when intelligence reached 
England that many thousands of the men of those 
tribes had fallen before the farmers' guns, public 
opinion was shocked. No one suspected that the 
destruction of those fierce warriors meant life to all 
other black people in the country. The great 
societies brought their influence to bear upon the 



CONDUCT OF THE NATAL GOVERNMENT. 221 

government, in order — as they believed — to stop 
further bloodshed by compelling the emigrants to 
return to the Cape Colony. Hardly any one con- 
sidered it advisable that the British dominions in 
South Africa should be enlarged by the annexation 
of the territory which they occupied. 

While this was the feeling in England, the 
republican government resolved not to allow 
Bantu from beyond the borders to settle in Natal, 
and to confine those who were already there to 
certain locations. A commando was also sent 
against a marauding chief who lived between Natal 
and the Cape Colony, and he was severely dealt with. 
If the emigrants had sought to provoke the British 
government, they could hardly have devised a surer 
plan. As soon as the intelligence reached Sir George 
Napier, who was then governor of the Cape Colony, 
a body of troops was sent to protect the Bantu, and a 
military camp was formed within a short distance of 
the southern boundary of the republic. 

For some time after the arrival of the emigrants 
in Natal, every possible effort had been made by the 
authorities in Capetown to cut off their supply of 
ammunition, but all attempts to do so had failed. 
They had now a port of their own, and foreign vessels 
were beginning to find their way to it. This naturally 
caused English merchants engaged in the South 
African trade to feel irritated, for it was supposed 
that the harbour of Natal might become the principal 
gateway to the interior. 

A resolution of the volksraad to compel some 
recent Bantu immigrants to retire to a location on the 



222 SEIZURE OF NATAL BY BRITISH FORCES. 

southern side of the republic brought matters to a 
crisis. The troops on the border were reinforced, and 
were ordered by Sir George Napier to move on and 
take possession of Port Natal. 

Accordingly two hundred and sixty-three soldiers 
of all ranks and of different arms, under Captain 
Thomas Smith, marched forward, meeting with no 
molestation on the way, and formed a camp at 
Durban. The volksraad sent a protest, but no 
notice was taken of it. Commandant- General 
Pretorius then assembled a number of farmers, and 
formed a camp at the head of the inlet, from which 
he sent a demand that the English troops should 
leave without delay. He claimed for the emigrant 
farmers perfect independence, but Captain Smith 
maintained the English view, that they had not 
ceased to be British subjects and could not by any 
act of their own throw off their allegiance to the 
crown of England. 

A contest was now inevitable. Captain Smith, 
who altogether underrated the vigilance and courage 
of his opponent, thought to crush out opposition by 
a single blow, and left his camp one evening at the 
head of a hundred and thirty-seven soldiers with the 
intention of falling by surprise upon Pretorius, who 
had then with him tw^o hundred and sixty-four men. 
No military operation could have been worse planned. 
It was clear moonlight, yet it was thought that the 
troops would not 6e noticed. The distance was a 
march of three miles, and the road was along the 
shore of the inlet, which was bordered at one place 
by dense scrub. 



SIEGE OF THE BRITISH CAMP. 223 

The troops were marching fully exposed past the 
thicket, with two field-pieces drawn by bullocks, when 
a sharp fire was opened upon them. They returned 
the volley, but without doing the slightest damage to 
the farmers, who were well protected and thoroughly 
concealed. Another discharge from the thicket 
wounded some of the oxen, which broke loose from 
the yokes and rushed furiously about, adding to the 
confusion. There was no remedy but retreat. Six- 
teen killed and thirty-one wounded were found by the 
farmers next day, and three others were drowned. 
The two guns, the oxen, and indeed everything that 
could be left behind, fell into the hands of the 
farmers. 

Mr. Pretorius now again demanded that the troops 
should leave Natal, and to gain time to strengthen 
his camp, Captain Smith agreed to a truce of a few 
days, under pretence of considering the matter. A 
messenger, provided with two good horses, was 
directed to ride with all speed through Kaffirland to 
Graham stown with a request for help, and he managed 
to get safely away. 

When the truce expired the English camp was 
invested, and fire was opened upon it from the 
farmers' batteries, on which three small cannons were 
mounted. Captain Smith caused deep trenches to be 
dug, in which the soldiers could remain in security, 
and he increased his stock of provisions by slaughter- 
ing his horses and drying their flesh. The men 
were put upon short allowance, which, as the siege 
advanced, became less and less, until they had nothing 
more than a few ounces of biscuit dust and dried 



224 SEIZURE OF NATAL BY BRITISH FORCES. 

horseflesh daily. Fortunately for them there was no 
want of water, which was obtained from wells sunk 
within the camp. 

The force under Pretorius increased by fresh 
arrivals until it amounted to six hundred men. They 
fortified the entrance to the inner harbour, and 
pressed the siege with vigour. Their cannon balls 
having become exhausted, they manufactured others 
by casting leaden ones over links cut from a chain 
cable. But so well were the soldiers protected that 
the fire against them was almost harmless, only eight 
men being killed and eight wounded on the British 
side during the twenty-six days that the siege lasted, 
though six hundred and fifty-one cannon shot were 
fired at the camp. On the other side four men were 
killed, and eight or ten — the exact number cannot be 
given — were wounded. 

The messenger sent by Captain Smith overland, 
who was familiar with the language and customs of 
the Bantu tribes on his way, reached Grahamstown in 
safety, and informed the military authorities of what 
had happened. A hundred soldiers were thereupon 
embarked in a schooner at Algoa Bay, and sailed for 
Port Natal. A wing of a regiment was also taken on 
board a frigate at Simon's Bay, and proceeded to the 
same destination. 

On Sunday, the 25th of June 1842, the schooner 
sailed into the inner harbour with a fair wind, having 
as many soldiers on board as could find room, and 
towing a number of boats containing others. The 
frigate at the same time opened fire with her heavy 
guns upon the high land commanding the entrance. 



RELIEF OF THE BRITISH CAMP. 225 

Three men were killed and five were wounded when 
passing under the farmers' batteries, but no further 
resistance was offered, for as soon as the fresh troops 
landed and Captain Smith was relieved, the burgher 
force under Pretorius dispersed. 

Natal thus became a British possession. Some of 
the farmers remained in it, but most of them packed 
their effects in their waggons, and moved over the 
Drakensberg into the interior. More than three 
years elapsed, however, before a government under 
English officials was established, and during that 
time great numbers of Bantu — chiefly refugees from 
Zululand — moved into the nearly vacant territory. 
An arrangement was made with Panda, by which he 
ceded to the British government the ground between 
the Buffalo and the upper Tugela river, so that the 
boundary was extended on the north beyond the 
passes through the mountain range. Thereafter the 
Zulu chief was treated as an independent sovereign, 
and immediately the process commenced of building 
up again that great military power which cost so 
much English blood in later years to overthrow. On 
the south all the land beyond the Umzimkulu river 
was given to the Pondo chief Faku, and thus Natal 
was much reduced in size in that direction. 

The farmers who went back over the Drakensberg 
settled in the territory between the Magalisberg 
and the Vaal river, that had previously been occupied 
by Commandant Potgieter's adherents. These now 
moved away to the north-east, in hope of being able 
to open communication with the outer world through 
Delagoa Bay, which, as it belonged to the Portuguese, 

i6 



mgf^<-i;fir^'yi"-:-} ' 




■^'^''^^s:~ 



Fl>- 




PROJECT OF TREATY STATES, 227 

they thought would be safe against attack by Great 
Britain. They halted on the head waters of some 
streams flowing into that bay, and built a village 
which they named Ohrigstad. There, however, they 
suffered very severely from fever, so that they were 
obliged to move again. They then divided into two 
parties, one of which founded the village of Lyden- 
burg, and the other, under Potgieter himself, went 
away north to the Zoutpansberg and settled there. 

In England the conduct of the emigrants in thus 
persistently retiring from British authority was 
regarded as very objectionable. The opinion was 
general that something should be done not only to 
compel the wanderers in the interior of the continent 
to return to their old homes, but to prevent others 
from abandoning the colony and joining them. The 
project of forming a barrier along the colonial border, 
by means of the creation of a chain of large native 
states, had for some time been advocated by the great 
societies, and was now determined upon by the 
government. Such a barrier, it was imagined, would 
cut off commercial communication with the emigrants, 
and leave them no alternative but to retrace their steps. 

In carrying this scheme into execution, Sir George 
Napier followed the method suggested by the 
reverend Dr. Philip, who made the preliminary 
arrangements. His plan was to select in a given 
area the most competent chief, that is the one 
supposed to be most amenable to missionary 
guidance, to enter into treaty with him as a sove- 
reign, and to support him with all the influence of 
the British government. 



228 CREATION OF TREATY STATES. 

At Thaba Bosigo one such chief was found in the 
person of the wise and able Moshesh, the friend and 
patron of missionaries. He had already built up a 
considerable power, which it was the great object 
of his life to increase and solidify. Nothing, therefore, 
could have been more in accordance with his desires 
than the scheme which was proposed : alliance with 
the British government, a subsidy in money, a vast 
extension of territory, and supremacy over all other 
chiefs within the area assigned to him. In 1843 a 
treaty was concluded, in which he was acknowledged 
to be the sovereign of a large vacant tract of land 
north of the Orange river, of the basin of the lower 
Caledon, where European farmers were settled, of the 
territory along the western bank of the Caledon 
higher up, which was occupied by various clans 
brought there by Wesleyan missionaries, and of all 
the land on which his own people lived. He was to 
have a subsidy of ^75 a year, payable either in money 
or in arms and ammunition, as he might choose. It 
will be seen in future chapters that no other document 
ever signed in South Africa cost so much blood and 
treasure as this, or was so productive of evil in various 
ways. 

West of the territory assigned to Moshesh there were 
no Bantu, but at and around a mission station of the 
London society, named Philippolis, there were some 
fifteen hundred or two thousand Griquas, under a 
captain named Adam Kok. These people were of 
mixed European, Hottentot, and negro blood, and 
most of them had recently migrated from the Cape 
Colony. They were supposed to be under missionary 



THE GRIQUAS. 



229 



guidance and to be partly civilised, but the men lived 
chiefly by hunting, and their character was far from 
stable. It was not then known that they were a 
perishing race. For one or two generations the 
hybrid offspring of Europeans and coloured people 




GRIQUA MAN AND WOMEN. 

{From a Sketch by Mr. Thos. Bairns.) 



possess a fair amount of fertility, but they must then 
intermix with one of the pure original stocks, or die 
out. Within fifty years the Griquas, by attempting 
to live as a separate people, have decreased to little 
more than one- fourth of their original number. 



230 CREATION OF TREATY STATES. 

There were more white people than Griquas living 
in the territory between the Modder river and the 
Orange, but at the same time that the treaty was 
made with Moshesh a similar one was made with 
Adam Kok, and thereafter this petty captain was 
officially regarded by the British government as the 
sovereign of all the land from the new Basuto 
boundary to the territory claimed by Andries 
Waterboer under the treaty of 1834. He was to 
receive a subsidy of £100 a year in money and the 
use of a hundred stand of arms with a reasonable 
quantity of ammunition. The London society was 
to receive ;^50 a year for the maintenance of a mission 
school. 

Thus, as far as paper treaties could make states, 
there was now a barrier along the whole northern 
border of the Cape Colony from the Kalahari desert 
upward. A little later, by another treaty, the Pondo 
chief Faku became the nominal ruler of all the terri- 
tory between the Umtata and Umzimkulu rivers, the 
Drakensberg and the sea, and thus the girdle was 
made complete. 

But it was soon found that for the purpose intended 
the treaty states were useless. The emigrant farmers 
ridiculed the idea either of their removal or of their 
subjection to the puppet sovereigns thus set up, and 
matters went on pretty much as before, so far as they 
were concerned. In the territory assigned to Moshesh 
trouble of an unexpected kind immediately arose. 
The chiefs of the clans along the Caledon indignantly 
refused to acknowledge him as a superior, and the 
Wesleyan missionaries took part with them in doing 



EFFECTS OF THE TREATIES. 23 1 

SO. The French missionaries, on the other hand, did 
their utmost to support and build up the Basuto 
power. Thus jealousies and quarrels were fomented, 
and the clans were kept in perpetual disturbance. 

In the territory assigned to Adam Kok many of 
the white people had come to fear that such anarchy 
as had prevailed in Natal was inseparable from a 
republican form of government, and they were not 
only willing but anxious to see the country annexed 
to the British dominions. There were circumstances 
in their condition and in the manner of their removal 
from the colony that made them the least disaffected 
of all the Dutch-speaking people of South Africa. 
But they, too, repudiated the sovereignty of Adam 
Kok, and refused to acknowledge him as anything 
but a Griqua captain. Besides these people ther^ 
were two large parties of emigrants in the country 
bitterly hostile to England, and they at once declared 
that if Kok attempted to interfere with them in any 
way whatever they would resist with arms. 

The treaty states were thus no barrier to commer- 
cial intercourse with the emigrants in the interior, 
they did not prevent further emigration, nor did they 
cause a single individual to retrace his steps. They 
provoked disputes and quarrels among people who 
were before friendly, and they enabled Moshesh to 
build up a power antagonistic to the interests and 
welfare of South Africa. 



XIX. 

EVENTS TO THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTH KAFFIR 

WAR. 



Sir Peregrine Maitland, who succeeded Sir 
George Napier as governor of the Cape Colony, 
determined to support Adam Kok with a military 
force if he should be attacked, and a promise to that 
effect was made to him. Thereupon he assumed 
a very haughty tone towards the white people, and 
shortly afterwards sent a band of his followers to 
arrest a farmer who ignored his government. The 
farmer was not at home when the Griquas arrived at 
his house, so they poured a storm of abuse upon 
his wife, and took possession of his guns and am- 
munition. 

Upon this the burghers formed a lager about thirty 
miles from Philippolis, and having placed their 
families in safety within it, they left a guard for its 
defence and took the field. There was at the time a 
body of British troops stationed at Colesberg, on the 
colonial side of the Orange river, two hundred of 
whom now marched to Philippolis to aid the Griquas, 
Adam Kok was also supplied with muskets and 



EXPEDITION TO AID ADAM KOK. 233 

ammunition from the military stores. He was thus 
able to defend himself until a regiment of dragoons, 
with some artillery and a company of light cavalry, 
could march to his support from Grahamstown. 
As soon as the force reached Philippolis, Colonel 
Richardson, who was in command, issued a pro- 
clamation calling upon the farmers to surrender un- 
conditionally ; but they took no notice of it. He then 
marched towards their lager, and by a stratagem 
drew two hundred and fifty men out of it, who were 
nearly surrounded before they were aware that British 
troops were acting against them. Taken by surprise, 
they did not attempt to make a stand, but in their 
efforts to escape three were killed. A little later in 
the same day possession was taken of the lager with- 
out resistance, when all the arms found there were 
confiscated. 

Colonel Richardson next called upon the emi- 
grants to take an oath of allegiance to the queen, 
when all those — three hundred and sixteen in number 
—who have been mentioned as not ill-affected towards 
the British government did so. The others were not 
arrested, as there were no means of supporting them 
in detention, so they moved away to Winburg, beyond 
the territory claimed by Adam Kok. 

By this time Sir Peregrine Maitland had become 
convinced that the Griqua treaty state, as originally 
planned, could not be maintained without the constant 
presence of a considerable military force, and in that 
case to regard Kok as a sovereign would be an 
absurdity. But he did not know what change to 
make, and so he visited the country in order to learn 



234 ^^ CLOSE OF SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 

its condition by personal intercourse with the different 
people there, and to devise some plan of action. At 
Touwfontein, where the emigrant lager had been, he 
met a great number of farmers, all the chiefs between 
the Orange and Vaal rivers, and most of the mission- 
aries. During several days matters were discussed, 
and the views of the different parties were laid before 
the governor. 

Adam Kok contended that he was a sovereign in 
alliance with Great Britain, that every one within his 
dominions who did not implicitly obey his orders was 
a rebel, and he requested that all the white people 
should be removed. 

The farmers contended that as there was no one 
living in the territory claimed by Kok whose parents 
had been born there, all being recent immigrants, 
their right was equal to that of the Griquas. Much 
of the land they occupied was vacant when they 
took possession of it, and the remainder had been 
purchased or leased from individual Griquas who by 
an earlier selection had prior claims. They could not 
return to the colony, where they had no ground, nor 
could they submit to such a government as that of 
Adam Kok and his missionary. 

Moshesh contended that as he was acknowledged 
to be the sovereign of the territory assigned to him 
by treaty, no one within it should be communicated 
with except through him. 

The chiefs along the Caledon contended that their 
independence of Moshesh ought to be recognised, and 
declared that they would rather die with arms in their 
hands than submit to him. 



ARRANGEMENT WITH ADAM KOK, 235 

Each of the missionaries supported the claims of 
the particular chief with whom he was living, so 
that their opinions differed greatly. 

Out of this confusion Sir Peregrine Maitland saw 
but one way of establishing order. He gave up all 
idea of the return of the emigrants to the Cape Colony, 
and endeavoured to arrange for the proper govern- 
ment of those who were living in the treaty states. 
He proposed to Adam Kok that the land between the 
Modder and Riet rivers should be allotted to Euro- 
peans, and that between the Riet and Orange rivers 
to Griquas. The Europeans were to be governed by 
an English officer whom he would nominate, and to 
whom Kok was to give a commission. Quitrent was 
to be levied on their farms, one half of which was 
to be devoted to the payment of the English officer 
and his assistants, and the other half was to be handed 
over to Kok, whose sovereignty over the whole terri- 
tory was in this manner still to be recognised. The 
Griqua captain at once closed with the offer, for it 
relieved him of a great difficulty and gave him an 
addition to his income. The Europeans also accepted 
the proposal, though some of them grumbled at having 
to pay tribute to a man whose right to the ground 
was no better than their own. 

Major Warden was selected by the governor to 
rule the European community between the Riet and 
the Modder, and fixed his residence at a place named 
Bloemfontein. A few soldiers of the Hottentot regi- 
ment were stationed there to support his authority, 
and he received all his instructions from Capetown, 
so that practically the territory was a British depen- 



236 TO CLOSE OF SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 

dency, though writs and other public documents ran 
in the name of Adam Kok. This arrangement 
worked fairly well, and a short period of peace and 
prosperity followed in that part of South Africa. 

A similar proposal was made by Sir Peregrine 
Maitland to Moshesh, but that chief was in a very 
different position from the Griqua captain, and was 
loth to exchange power for money. He wanted to 
keep on good terms with the governor, however, and 
so he made an appearance of consenting to the plan 
while really thwarting it. He offered for the use of 
Europeans a tract of land in the angle of the Orange 
and Caledon rivers, so far away from the possessions 
of his own people that there was no likelihood of its 
ever being of value to him, and so small that no 
revenue derived from it could cover the salary of a 
British official. This offer he could not be induced to 
enlarge, and though negotiations were carried on with 
him after Sir Peregrine Maitland's return to Cape- 
town, nothing came of them. Thus within the Basuto 
treaty state matters remained in a most unsatisfac- 
tory condition. 

At this time the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony 
was exposed to depredations as it had never — even in 
the worst times — been exposed before. Earl Glenelg, 
through his agent Lieutenant-Governor Stockenstrom, 
had given up to the Kosas the whole country east of 
the Kat and Fish rivers, and had entered into treaties 
with the chiefs as sovereign rulers. This action they 
considered a proof of weakness, and in consequence 
they laid aside all respect for the British authorities. 
Within the next ten years over a hundred murders were 



MARKS OF PROGRESS. 237 

committed by their people on colonial ground, and 
the country as far west as the Sunday river was 
harried and wasted almost as in a time of war. The 
unfortunate British settlers of 1820 were the principal 
sufferers, but their prayers for relief were altogether 
disregarded in England. Modifications of the treaties 
were made by Sir George Napier and Sir Peregrine 
Maitland, but the position was not improved, for it 
was the system itself that was the cause of the evil. 

In other respects this period was marked by many 
beneficial changes. The cost of government was 
greatly reduced, so that every year a surplus could 
be applied to the reduction of the public debt. By 
the sale of the old drostdies, the conversion of a 
number of quitrent farms into freehold, and licenses 
for the removal of a quantity of guano from some 
small islands off the western coast, by 1847 the debt 
was entirely paid off Magistrates were increased, 
and churches of various denominations were multi- 
plied throughout the colony. Municipal government 
of the towns and villages was introduced. An ex- 
cellent system of schools was brought into operation. 
Good waggon roads were made — principally by con- 
vict labour — through many mountain passes, where 
previously produce could only be transported with 
the greatest difficulty. The value of the exports was 
rapidly rising by increase in the produciion of wool. 

More than all, four or five thousand English, 
Scotch, and Irish agriculturists and mechanics were 
brought into the colony by a system of aided immi- 
gration, and partly filled the places of those who had 
moved into the interior. No people in any country 




tWt^¥^ « 



SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 239 

have thriven better than these. About seven hundred 
destitute children sent out from London by a bene- 
volent society were apprenticed to carefully selected 
persons, and though a few turned out badly, most of 
them became useful and prosperous members of the 
community. Unfortunately, however, these were not 
the only immigrants. The Cape was made the 
station where all slave ships captured by British 
cruisers south of the equator were brought, and the 
negroes were apprenticed here for short periods, after 
which they became merged in the general coloured 
population. The farmers and townspeople, who were 
without a sufficient supply of labour, were very glad 
to get them, and the missionary societies welcomed 
them as material to work with ; but they were not 
a class to add permanently to the prosperity of the 
country. 

After the frontier colonists had been exposed for 
ten years to the depredations of the Kosas, an event 
took place which brought on open war. A Kosa, 
who was detected in an act of theft at Fort Beaufort, 
was arrested, and was being conveyed to the nearest 
magistrate's office for trial, when a party of his clans- 
men crossed the border, and after overpowering the 
constables and murdering a Hottentot, released their 
friend. Sandile, the legal heir of Gaika, was then 
the principal chief of Western Kaffirland. The 
governor applied to him to surrender the raiders 
for trial, as "their crime had been committed on 
colonial ground, and he had bound himself by treaty 
to give up offenders of this kind. But he made light 
of the matter, and refused to carry out his engagement. 



240 TO CLOSE OF SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 

A military force was then directed to enter Kaffir- 
land and occupy Sandile's kraal, so as to bring him 
to terms. A very long waggon train accompanied it, 
conveying provisions, tents, baggage, and ammuni- 
tion ; and, as if to invite attack, this tempting prize 
was almost unguarded. The movements of the 
expedition were, of course, closely watched by the 
keen eyes of Kosa scouts, and when in a spot con- 
venient for the purpose, while the main body of the 
English troops was some miles distant, a strong band 
of warriors rushed upon the train, and without any 
difficulty made themselves masters of a great portion 
of it 

By this disaster the British force was compelled 
to retreat precipitately. After considerable loss it 
reached the Lovedale mission station, just within 
the colonial border, and hastily fortified a large stone 
building used as a boarding school, which enabled it 
to stay there in safety. 

At once a great body of Kosa warriors poured into 
the colony, swept off all the cattle east of Uitenhage, 
burned many dwelling-houses, and murdered several 
individuals who had not time to escape to villages or 
lagers. Their success encouraged a large portion of 
the Tembu tribe to join them, and these people laid 
waste the country north of the Winterberg just as 
tTie Kosas had done south of that range. Thus the 
European settlement in the eastern districts was 
reduced to the towns and villages, w^hich were 
crowded with helpless and destitute people. The 
farms — except a few where there were lagers — were 
abandoned. 



COURSE OF THE WAR, 24 1 

Another disaster followed. The garrison of the 
most advanced fort on the frontier was in urgent 
need of supplies of food and ammunition, and a train 
of waggons, under military escort, left Grahamstown 
for its relief In a thicket the train was attacked, 
the guard was obliged to retire, and the supplies fell 
into the hands of the Kosas. 

The whole burgher force of the colony was called 
out, and every soldier that could be spared from duty 
in Capetown was sent to the front. Hottentots and 
other coloured people were enrolled, waggons and 
oxen were everywhere impressed, and in a short time 
a mass of combatants sufficiently large for offensive 
operations was assembled on the frontier. A greater 
difficulty than that of collecting men, however, was 
that of collecting provisions. It was not only the 
army that the government had to feed, but the 
unfortunate European women and children whose 
property had been destroyed, and the families of all 
the Hottentots of the frontier. 

Some successes were gained, but operations were 
stayed by the collapse of the transport service, and 
the army was obliged at one time to encamp on the 
coast, w^here supplies could be obtained by sea, in 
order to escape starvation. After a while several 
regiments of soldiers arrived from abroad, the trans- 
port service was organised on a better plan, and 
provisions were sent from the western districts. 
Then a kind of lull took place, in consequence of a 
professal of submission by most of the hostile clans, 
whose object was to get a crop of maize and then 
renew the war. 

17 



242 TO CLOSE OF SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 

During this lull Sir Peregrine Maitland was re- 
called, as every governor since Lord Charles Somer- 
set has been in whose term of office war has broken 
out. He was succeeded by Sir Henry Pottinger, 
who was also appointed high commissioner for the 
purpose of dealing with matters beyond the colonial 
border. All succeeding governors of the Cape Colony 
have been high commissioners also. 

The crops of maize were gathered, and the war 
was resumed. But soon afterwards Sandile found 
himself hardly pressed, and surrendered, upon which 
there was another general profession of submission. 
In later years the Kosas laughed at the ease with 
which the white people were deceived, and ridiculed 
the idea of their being beaten in this war. But the 
governor, judging them by a European or an Indian 
standard, believed that they were subdued, and was 
about to proclaim peace when he received news of his 
transfer to Madras. 

The enormous expense of the war had brought 
home to the imperial government the folly of the 
treaty system, of which it was the result, in a manner 
that the prayers of the colonists had never done. 
The ruined eastern farmers were clamouring for com- 
pensation from the British treasury for their losses, 
on the ground that they had protested against the 
measures which led to the war, and earl Glenelg had 
accepted tlie responsibility of carrying them out. 
They did not get what they asked for, but the whole 
military and commissariat charges were of necessity 
borne by England. Both Sir Peregrine Maitland and 
Sir Henry Pottinger had come to the conclusion that 



RESULTS OF THE WAR, 243 

Sir Benjamin D'Urban's system of dealing with the 
Kosas should be reverted to, and even Sir George 
Napier was of the same opinion. 

The imperial authorities then resolved upon another 
complete change, and to carry it out they selected 
as governor and high commissioner Sir Harry Smith, 
who, as Colonel Smith, had been Sir Benjamin 
D'Urban's most able lieutenant in South Africa, 
and who had recently won high military renown in 
India. But while making this resolution they were 
beginning to comprehend that it was impossible at 
a distance of six thousand miles to direct the affairs 
of a country either safely or satisfactorily, especially 
under such pressure as could be brought by the 
great societies to bear upon a government in 
England ; and they were already impressed with 
a belief that the best course they could adopt would 
be to let the affairs of the Cape Colony be settled 
by its own people. To the Kaffir war of 1846-7 more 
than to any other event is due the liberal constitution 
that was granted a few years later. 




I®^^ 



XX. 

EVENTS DURING IHE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR 
HARRY SMITH. 



No governor has ever been more heartily welcomed 
in South Africa than Sir Harry Smith. Every section 
of the inhabitants of the colony hailed him as an old 
and tried friend, and there was a general hope ihat 
better days had now set in. He was not long in 
making known the details of the changes which he 
came to effect. Hurrying to the eastern frontier, he 
issued a proclamation, extending the Cape Colony 
on the north to the Orange river from its mouth to 
the junction of the Kraai, and on the east to the 
Keiskama and the Tyumie. 

The territory between the Keiskama and Tyumie 
on one side, and the Kei on the other, he then pro- 
claimed a British possession, but to be kept entirely 
for the use of the western clans of the Kosa tribe, 
just as Sir Benjamin D'Urban intended when he 
annexed it under the name of the province of Queen 
Adelaide. Colonel Mackinnon was appointed a 
commissioner to exercise general authority over the 
clans, an office which the governor himself had once 




\ .-^/^. 



--■«,^»-\.t 



SIR HARRY SMITH. 



2|6 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 

held. The chiefs remained the rulers of their people 
in many matters, but vicious customs were no longer 
to be tolerated, and punishment of persons accused 
of dealing in witchcraft was to be suppressed. A 
strong body of troops was to garrison various forts 
in the territory, and to support the authority of the 
commissioner and his assistants. The new province 
was named British Kaffraria. 

The whole of the chiefs who had been in arms 
agreed to this arrangement, and those who resided 
within the province took an oath to maintain it. 
The others, who lived east of the Kei, were left 
perfectly independent. The governor, the colonists, 
and the missionaries — whose views were greatly 
modified by the late war — alike considered this settle- 
ment satisfactory, and to all outward appearance the 
Kosas were pleased with it ; but within three years 
the chiefs declared that they had only agreed to it as 
a truce, in order to get material together for another 
trial of strength with the Europeans. 

As soon as these arrangements were made. Sir 
Harry Smith proceeded to the territory north of the 
Orange river. Treaties between the British govern- 
ment and Bantu chiefs he regarded as agreements 
between a full-grown man and little children, and 
he repeatedly and emphatically declared that there 
should be no more of them. As for the treaty states 
on the northern border, he looked upon them as the 
creations of supreme folly, and he therefore intended 
to destroy them. But as neither Adam Kok nor 
Moshesh had violated any of the conditions of the 
treaties, he could not declare the documents annulled, 



END OF THE TREATY STATES. 247 

and it was thus his object by some means to induce 
those persons to consent to their own effacement as 
sovereign rulers. 

The emigrant farmers between the Riet and 
Modder rivers gave him an enthusiastic reception) 
for many of them had fought under his command 
thirteen years before, and they had ahvays Hked him 
as he had Hked them. They had no complaint to 
make against Major Warden, but they had a griev- 
ance, in that half of the land tax which they paid 
went into the pocket of Adam Kok, and they had 
no return for it. Was it not scandalous, too, they 
asked, that they should be officially termed subjects 
of that petty captain of a mongrel band ? 

By the governor's desire, Kok went from Philip- 
polis to Bloemfontein to meet him. At the conference 
Sir Harry stated that he was about to place the white 
people in the territory under the direct rule of the 
queen of England, but he would not interfere with 
Kok's government of his Griquas. The whole of the 
land between the Riet and Orange rivers — which was 
ten times as much as the Griquas could make use 
of— would be regarded as their reserve, the captain 
should have a perpetual pension of ^200 a year, and 
as some of his people had leased farms north of the 
Riet river, which would now be lost to them, they 
should have among them ;^ioo a year in perpetuity 
as compensation. The captain demurred to these 
terms, and spoke of his dignity in such a way that 
the governor lost all patience and threatened him 
with speedy punishment. He then submitted, and 
affixed his name to a document which put an end 



248 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 

to the Griqua treaty state, but left him far more 
than he had any reasonable claim to. 

A little later the governor had an interview with 
Moshesh, to whom he made some valuable presents, 
at the same time professing his friendship in the 
warmest language. He then announced his intention 
as regarded the white people, and asked for the 
co-operation of the chief. Probably Moshesh felt 
somewhat overawed in the presence of the impetuous 
governor, and it is improbable that he fully compre- 
hended what the proposals laid before him would 
lead to, but he attached his mark to a document 
which destroyed the Basuto treaty state. 

These preliminaries having been settled, on the 
3rd ot February 1848 Sir Harry Smith issued a 
proclamation, adding to the British dominions the 
whole territory between the Vaal river, the Orange 
river, and the Kathlamba mountains, under the name 
of the Orange River Sovereignty. The Europeans 
in it were placed under the immediate rule of the 
queen, and a staff of officials was appointed to 
administer justice and collect taxes in her Majesty's 
name. Major Warden was appointed head of the 
new administration. The coloured people were left 
under the government of their chiefs, and the land 
then actually in their occupation was to be reserved 
for their use and secured against encroachment 
What might be termed their foreign relations, that 
is everything affecting the dealings of one head chief 
with another, or of any chief with Europeans, were 
to be under the control of the British authorities. 

Here, at last, was a policy such as nearly every 



BATTLE OF BOOMPLAATS. 249 

man in the Cape Colony approved of. Unfortunately, 
however, it came too late. The vast majority of the 
white people living between the Modder and Vaal 
rivers were indisposed to submit to British rule in 
any form, and prepared to fight for the independent 
government they had lived under for twelve years. 
Moshesh, who had by this time built up a power 
far greater than Sir Harry Smith was aware of, began 
to devise schemes for the destruction of the Sovereignty 
government as soon as he found that he was to be 
confined to a reserve covering only the actual ground 
on which his people lived, that his practice of incor- 
porating members of other tribes with his own was 
likely to be severely checked, and that the clans along 
the Caledon were treated as independent of him. 

Sir Harry Smith had not long returned to Cape- 
town when he received intelligence that the farmers 
in the north of the Sovereignty had elected Mr. 
Andries Pretorius to be their commandant and had 
risen in arms, that Major Warden with the little 
garrison of Bloemfontein had been obliged to 
capitulate, and that the whole of the English officials 
had been driven over the Orange river and were then 
in a camp near Colesberg. The energetic governor 
at once directed a strong body of troops to march to 
the Orange, and followed himself to take command in 
person. Commandant Pretorius did not attempt to 
defend the passage of the river, but made a stand at a 
strong position called Boomplaats, where on the 29th 
of iiugust 1848 a severe engagement took place, 
which ended in the defeat of the farmers. 

All who were inveterately opposed to British rule 



250 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH, 

now made their way in haste across the Vaal river, 
and there was no attempt to follow them. The 
Sovereignty government was re-established, and a 
much larger garrison than before was left in Bloem- 
fontein. The places of those white people who had 
moved away were filled by fresh emigrants from the 
Cape Colony, many of whom were Englishmen, so 
that from this time forward the European population 
of the territory consisted of people either well affected 
to the British government or not very bitterly opposed 
to it. 

Leaving now the region beyond the Cape Colony 
for a short time, an event must be related which 
caused intense excitement throughout South Africa. 
This was a project of the imperial ministry of the 
day to make of the Cape a convict settlement. The 
tidings caused a feeling somewhat akin to what a 
proposal would have done to introduce a dreadful 
disease. Men and women or respectability every- 
where raised their voices against it, tor if a class of 
people that had either by choice or of necessity 
become criminal, and whose self-respect was destroyed 
by conviction, were once allowed to mix with the 
coloured races, the country would no longer be fit to 
live in. Petitions and protests against the measure 
were sent to England in great number, and when 
the ship Neptune with convicts on board arrived in 
Simon's Bay, the people of the Cape peninsula — with 
few exceptions — bound themselves together under a 
pledge not to supply anything whatever to persons 
who had dealings with her, nor to have any inter- 
course with them. 



ANTI-CONVICT AGITATION, 25I 

This pledge was so strictly carried out that not a 
particle of food could be obtained for the convicts, 
and it was with much difficulty that supplies for the 
troops in garrison were procured. Any one who 
opposed the popular will in the matter did so on 
peril of being assaulted and having his property 
destroyed. Sir Harry Smith was very much opposed 
to the scheme of making the country a convict 
settlement, but he was obliged to carry out the 
instructions which he received from England, and 
so he could not send the ship away, though the 
colonists were very anxious that he should. 

Five months the Neptune lay at anchor in Simon's 
Bay. Her crew and the convicts on board could get 
nothing to eat but provisions out of ships of war. 
If the plague had been in her she could not have been 
more carefully avoided. All this time the greatest 
excitement prevailed in the colony, and great caution 
had to be used by the government to prevent a 
collision with the people. At' length, to the joy of 
every one, instructions were received from England 
that the convicts should proceed to Tasmania, as 
the secretary of state had changed his mind, owing 
to the numerous petitions of the colonists. 

The anti-convict agitation had hardly died out 
when the country became involved again in war with 
the Kosa and Tembu tribes. The principal chiefs of 
these people had never regarded the cessation of 
hostilities at the close of 1847 as anything but a truce, 
though they were crafty enough to conceal their views 
from even those Europeans who were most intimately 
acquainted with them, and it was only at a later date 



252 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 

that this became known. The common people were 
ready to support their chiefs with their Hves as well 
as their substance, and, from their point of view, they 
had at least one very serious grievance against the 
European authorities. 

The Bantu believe most implicitly that diseases 
and disasters of all kinds are caused by wizards and 
witches, and in every clan there is a recognised witch- 
finder who, whenever any trouble occurs, goes through 
certain forms called " smelling out," and then points to 
an individual whom he pronounces guilty of having 
caused it. The individual thus accused is, without 
further investigation, subjected to torture of different 
kinds, often resulting in death, and may consider 
himself fortunate if he escapes with a few scars and 
the loss of all his property. The British authorities 
suppressed the practice of "smelling out," and 
punished the witchfinders. They believed that by so 
doing they were conferring a benefit upon the people, 
who would be grateful for relief from the danger ot 
being despoiled and tortured without cause or guilt. 
But the people supposed to be relieved looked at the 
matter in a different light. The English, they said, 
are giving us over to the wizards and witches to do as 
they like with us. Their view was what ours would 
be if a government were to suppress punishment for 
murder and imprison the constables who arrested a 
man for committing it. 

Only a slight pretext was therefore needed for a 
renewal of the war, and any accident might have 
precipitated it, but, as it happened, the frontier 
colonists received timely warning of what was 



EIGHTH KAFFIR WAR. 253 

coming. It became known that a man named 
Umlanjeni, who was credited by his people with 
great magical knowledge, was issuing charms which 
he asserted would turn bullets fired at their wearers 
into water, and the Kosa warriors were repairing to 
him in hundreds at a time to procure them. 

On receiving a report to this effect, Sir Harry Smith 
proceeded to King-Wii!iamstown, and convened a 
meeting of all the chiefs in British Kaffraria, in order 
to discuss matters with them. Sandile, the most 
powerful among them, did not appear. Still, as the 
others made no complaints of any kind, and seemed 
to be prosperous and happy, the governor thought 
they could not have war in their minds. He returned 
to Capetown, but reports followed him that there 
would surely be a speedy outbreak. 

With all the soldiers that could be mustered. 
Sir Harry was soon back in King-Williamstown, and 
as Sandile was known to be in one of the forests at 
the sources of the Keiskama, a body of troops was 
sent to arrest him. On the way the troops were 
attacked in the Boomah pass by thousands of Kosas, 
and lost twenty-three men killed and as many wounded 
in fighting their way through. A few hours later in 
another part of the country a patrol of fifteen soldiers 
was met by some of Sandile's people, and all were 
put to death. 

On the following morning — Christmas 1850, three 
villages named Auckland, Woburn, and Johannesburg, 
close to the colonial side of the border, were surprised 
by Kosas, when forty-six men were m.urdered in cold 
blood, and the houses were burned to the ground. 



254 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 

In this manner the eighth Kaffir war commenced^ 
and it was the longest and most costly in blood and 
treasure that the Cape Colony has ever been engaged 
in. The frontier districts were ravaged once more, 
and the burghers of all parts of the country were 
obliged to leave their homes and take up arms. The 
Kosas were joined by a great part of the Tembu tribe 
and by several hundreds of Hottentots from the 
settlement at the Kat river and other places. Even 
some of the soldiers of the Hottentot regiment 
deserted and went over to them, as the colonists 
had always feared would some day happen. 

A very sad event was the loss of the transport 
steamship Bij^kenhead, which was sent from England 
with troops to assist in the war. She was proceeding 
to Algoa Bay when in the middle of the night she 
struck on a reef running out from Danger Point. 
The women, children, and sick people were put into 
the boats, while the soldiers were drawn up on the 
deck as on a parade ground. The sea was swarming 
with sharks, the shore was so far distant that the 
strongest swimmer could not hope to reach it, and 
the wreck was breaking up fast. Yet those brave 
men stood calmly there till the boats with the help- 
less ones got away. Then, just as the ship fell to 
pieces and sank, they leaped into the sea, and a few, 
by clinging to floating wreckage, got to land. Four 
hundred perished. 

There had never before been so strong a force in 
South Africa as there was in Kaffraria at this time. 
For more than two years the soldiers, burghers, and 
auxiliaries of various kinds were employed against 



EIGHTH KAFFIR WAR. 255 

an enemy that could not be brought to a decisive 
action, but that seemed to go from one forest to 
another with the faciHty of birds, and that carried 
on war by doubHng upon pursuers, cutting off 
stragglers, and seizing everything that was not 
strongly guarded. At length, however, the food of 
the hostile clans was completely exhausted, and the 
chiefs then asked for peace, which was gladly granted. 

It was not Sir Harry Smith's fault, but his mis- 
fortune, that the war had taken place. It would 
have been beyond the power of any man to have 
staved it off permanently, for even the settlement 
made at its close, as will hereafter be seen, was only 
regarded by the Kosas as a truce. But, following 
the invariable custom in such cases, the secretary 
of state recalled the governor. Sir George Cath- 
cart, who was sent out as his successor, took over 
the duty on the 31st of March 1852, and thereafter 
directed operations in person until the conclusion of 
peace. 

He located the Tembus— who were really subdued 
— in the district that is now called Glen Grey, and 
gave much of the remainder of the land they had 
occupied for the last quarter of a century to colonists 
to be held under military tenure. It was for a time 
called North Victoria, but subsequently became 
known as the district of Queenstown, from the 
neat and flourishing village that was built near its 
centre. The Fingos, who had fought well on the 
European side, received the best of the land along 
the foot of the Amatola mountains and some ex- 
tensive tracts forfeited by the Tembus. The in- 



SETTLEMENT OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 257 

dependent section of the Kosa tribe, under the chief 
Kreli, was left in possession of the territory between 
the Bashee and the Kei ; and the western clans of 
this tribe, who had been British subjects since 1847, 
had all the open ground from the Kei to the 
Keiskama assigned to them. 

The government of British Kaffraria was re- 
established with a strong and reliable force to 
support it. Before the war there had been a large 
body of Kaffir police, but at the commencement of 
hostilities the men composing it had gone over to 
their own people. Their place was now taken by 
a corps composed chiefly of young colonists, with a 
few Fingos attached to it as detectives. The men, 
who were armed with the best weapons, were 
mounted, and proved a most useful body for either 
military or police purposes. Several regiments of 
British troops were also stationed in the province. 




18 



XXI. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY GREAT BRITAIN OF THE 
INDEPENDENCE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN RE- 
PUBLIC, AND ABANDONMENT OF THE ORANGE 
RIVER SOVEREIGNTY. 

. For a short time after the restoration of British 
rule in the Orange River Sovereignty, everything 
went on smoothly, and the people appeared to be 
prosperous. But this satisfactory state of affairs did 
not continue long. Moshesh was unwilling that the 
growth of his power should be restricted, and as 
he did not wish openly to break with the British 
government, he endeavoured secretly to foment 
such disturbances as would destroy the arrange- 
ments then existing. He — a self-made Bantu ruler 
— cannot be blamed for doing this ; but what can 
be said of the treaty system which enabled him to 
build up sufficient power to do it? 

It was easy for him to bring about a collision 
between one of his vassal captains and the chief 
Sikonyela, while all the time he was professing to 
be an advocate of peace and apparently making 

sacrifices to secure it. Presently other clans became 

258 



FIRST BASUTO WAR, 255 

involved in the quarrel, and Major Warden, who had 
done all that was possible to restore order by advice 
and expostulation, then tried to quell the disturbance 
by force. 

This course of action was regarded by the Euro- 
peans in the Sovereignty as a mistake. They main- 
tained that the government ought not to meddle 
with matters affecting only Bantu clans, as it had 
no spare strength to squander, and should reserve 
its interference for occasions when Europeans were 
threatened with damage. But Sir Harry Smith 
thought differently. He had no idea that the 
Basuto power was as great as it afterwards proved 
to be, nor indeed had any other European in South 
Africa. He was of opinion that by adding the 
English soldiers at Bloemfontein and an equal 
number of farmers to any side in a quarrel in the 
Sovereignty, he could turn the scale against the 
other side. And so it was by his instructions that 
Major Warden attempted to punish the disturbers 
of the peace. 

With one hundred and sixty-two soldiers, one 
hundred and twenty farmers, and from a thousand 
to fifteen hundred blacks, the major marched against 
Molitsane, the vassal of Moshesh who was held to 
be the cause of the disturbance, and at Viervoet was 
drawn into a trap and suffered a crushing defeat. 
No one was more surprised than Moshesh himself 
at the issue of the battle, for he had not believed 
that the troops and farmers under Major Warden's 
command could have been driven from the field 
so easily. He at once threw off the mask he had 



26o INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 

hitherto worn, and laid aside his assumed respect 
for British authority. 

It has before been stated that the majority of the 
farmers in the Sovereignty were well affected towards 
England, but a strong minority were at heart opposed 
to English rule, though up to this time not inclined 
to offer open resistance. These last were hardly less 
surprised than Moshesh at the decisive success of 
the Basuto in the battle of Viervoet. They knew 
that no aid could be sent to Major Warden from 
the Cape Colony, which was then involved in a war 
of its own, and so, as a matter of self-protection, 
they set aside their duty to the Sovereignty govern- 
ment and entered into an engagement with Moshesh. 
They promised not to take part in hostilities against 
him, and he engaged not to allow his people to 
molest them. On both sides this agreement was 
faithfully kept. 

The Europeans who were loyal to the British 
government, on the contrary, were sought out by 
bands of Basuto and plundered mercilessly. The 
clans along the Caledon were dispersed, and were 
reduced to great distress. Major Warden was 
perfectly helpless, for without a strong military force 
order could not be restored, and he had only men 
enough to guard the fort in Bloemfontein. 

Some of the farmers now sent a request to Com- 
mandant Pretorius to come and devise some plan 
to put an end to the prevailing anarchy, and 
Moshesh joined in the invitation. Since the battle 
of Boomplaats Pretorius had been living north of 
the Vaal, with a reward of ;£"2,ooo for his apprehen- 



THE SAND RIVER CONVENTION. 261 

slon hanging over his head all the time. When 
urged to interfere in matters in the Sovereignty, he 
wrote to Major Warden announcing his intention 
to do so, but intimating that he would prefer to 
make a treaty of peace with the British govern- 
ment, in which the independence of his adherents 
should be acknowledged. Major Warden hereupon 
reported to Sir Harry Smith that the fate of the 
Sovereignty depended upon the movements of a 
proscribed man. He had been instructed to act 
strictly on the defensive until troops could be 
spared from the Kaffir war to aid him, but if Pre- 
torius and the emigrants north of the Vaal united 
with the Europeans who ignored his authority and 
with Moshesh, he would be entirely at their mercy. 
Under these circumstances the governor decided 
to acknowledge the independence of the Transvaal 
emigrants, as the imperial ministers had announced 
their determination not to add another square inch 
of ground in South Africa to the queen's dominions, 
and advantages which could be obtained by a con- 
vention were not to be had in any other way. Two 
assistant commissioners — Major Hogg and Mr. Owen 
— were therefore sent to make the necessary arrange- 
ments with Commandant Pretorius and a number 
of delegates from the Transvaal people. The con- 
ference took place on a farm in the Sovereignt}^, and 
there, on the 17th of January 1852, a document — 
known ever since as the Sand River convention — 
was signed, in which the British government 
guaranteed to the emigrants north of the Vaal the 
light to manage their own affairs without inter- 



262 INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC 

ference. The convention was confirmed by the 
secretary of state for the colonies, and was ratified 
by the volksraad, so that thereafter the South 
African Republic — as the country was named — had 
a legal as well as an actual existence in the eyes 
of the British government. 

The Sovereignty was thus preserved from inter- 
ference by Mr. Pretorius, and its government became 
somewhat stronger than before, because a good many 
of those who had ignored Major Warden moved over 
the Vaal. But Moshesh's people still continued to 
plunder and harass the loyal farmers, and the clans 
that had opposed him remained in great distress. 

This was the state of matters until Sir George 
Cathcart was able to spare a strong body of troops 
from British Kaffraria, with which he marched north- 
ward to restore order. He reached Platberg on the 
Caledon with a splendidly equipped force, consisting 
of nearly two thousand infantry, five hundred cavalry, 
and some artillerymen with two field-guns, hoping 
that the mere presence of such a body of troops 
would enable him to settle everything to his satis- 
faction, without having recourse to hostilities. From 
Platberg, after a minute investigation of affairs, he 
sent an ultimatum to Moshesh, demanding that 
chiefs compliance with certain conditions and the 
delivery within three days of ten thousand head of 
horned cattle and one thousand horses, as compensa- 
tion for the robberies committed by the Basuto people. 

Moshesh personally was willing to accede to the 
high commissioner's terms, for he dreaded a struggle 
with the British power now that the Tembus had 



CONDITION OF THE BASUTO TRIBE. 263 

been subdued, the Kosas were ceasing to fight, and 
the Transvaal farmers were pacified. He knew that 
the army at Platberg w^s only a small portion of 
the force at Sir George Cathcart's disposal, and he 
was in that condition that any serious reverse might 
ruin him. The great tribe that called him master 
was composed of the fragments of many others that 
had not yet thoroughly blended, and disaster would 
cause its disintegration. There were numerous indi- 
viduals in it of higher rank by birth than he, so that 
elements of discord were present, though they did 
not show themselves in times of prosperity. In 
short, to save his dynasty it was necessary for 
Moshesh to avoid defeat. 

But the Basuto people preferred a trial of strength 
to the surrender of so many cattle and horses as the 
high commissioner demanded, and the great chief 
could not afford to act in opposition to their wishes, 
as a ruler by hereditary right could have done. The 
result was a kind of compromise. Moshesh sent in 
three thousand five hundred head of cattle, with a 
faint hope that they would be accepted as sufficient, 
and then assembled his warriors at Thaba Bosigo to 
resist the British army if it should advance. 

The country of the Basuto is an exceedingly 
difficult one to penetrate. It is the Switzerland of 
South Africa. Resting on the interior plateau of the 
continent, five thousand feet above sea level, it rises 
like a gigantic billow in successive waves of moun- 
tains until the summit of the Drakensberg is reached, 
the highest peaks of which are over eleven thousand 
feet above the ocean. The lower valleys are remark- 



BATTLE OF BEREA. 265 

ably fertile, so that the country can support a large 
population, though no other use is made of the 
higher lands than to pasture cattle in summer. 
There are many hills with flat tops and precipitous 
sides that can easily be defended against an enemy, 
and of all these Thaba Bosigo, the seat of Moshesh's 
government, is the strongest. 

On the 20th of December 1852 Sir George Cath- 
cart crossed the Caledon from Platberg, and entered 
Basutoland, with the intention of occupying Moshesh's 
mountain. He made the great mistake of under- 
estimating the strength and courage of his opponent, 
and not giving him any credit for ability as a strate- 
gist. His officers took no thought about the matter, 
but looked upon their occupation of Thaba Bosigo as 
a certainty, and their march as a pleasant excursion. 
The army entered the Basuto territory in three 
divisions. 

By a simple stratagem — that of exposing an 
immense herd of cattle in a position on the Berea 
mountain where their capture appeared easy — one of 
the British divisions was drawn into an ambush, and 
after suffering considerable loss was obliged to retreat 
to the camp at Platberg. It drove before it, however, 
some four thousand horned cattle, with a few horses 
and sheep, which the enemy was unable to recover. 

Another of the divisions, under Sir George Cath- 
cart in person, suddenly found itself face to face v/ith 
about six thousand Basuto horsemen armed with 
European weapons, and though the discipline of the 
soldiers enabled them to keep the untrained mass 
from breaking their ranks, no further advance was 



266 WISE ACTION OF MOSHESH. 

now thought of. A little before dusk the third 
division managed to join the commander-in-chief, 
and a defensible position among rocks was then 
taken for the night. At daybreak next morning the 
army commenced its retreat to the camp at Platberg. 
It had lost thirty-seven men killed, fifteen wounded, 
and one prisoner, who was murdered by his captors. 

Though he had gained such a success, the wise 
Basuto chief's first thought after the battle was to 
obtain peace. He sent for the reverend Mr. Casalis, 
one of his missionaries, and after consulting with him, 
the most politic document that has ever been penned 
in South Africa was written. It was as follows : — 

" Thaba Bosigo, 

''Midnight, 20th December, 1852. 
" Your Excellency, — This day you have fought 
against my people, and taken much cattle. As the 
object for which you have come is to have a com- 
pensation for Boers, I beg you will be satisfied with 
what you have taken. I entreat peace from you — 
you have chastised — let it be enough, I pray you ; 
and let me be no longer considered an enemy to the 
Queen. I will try all I can to keep my people in 
order in the future. 

" Your humble servant, 

" MoSHESH." 

It was some time before a messenger could be 
found who would venture near the English sentries, 
and when at length one left Thaba Bosigo with a flag 
of truce, Sir George Cathcart was retiring to his camp 



ARRIVAL OF SIR GEORGE CLERK. 267 

at Platberg. The messenger followed and delivered 
the letter. 

The English general, on his part, was not less 
anxious for peace. In his opinion there was every- 
thing to lose in a war with a tribe so strong as he 
had found the Basuto to be, and so he eagerly availed 
himself of the opening for escape from a grave diffi- 
culty which Moshesh's letter afforded. He announced 
that he was satisfied with the number of cattle cap- 
tured, that he considered past obligations fulfilled, 
and that he would at once retire. There was much 
murmuring in the English camp when this announce- 
ment was made, but the general shut his ears to it 
all, and before the end of the month the army reached 
the Orange on its return march. 

For some time the imperial government had been 
undecided whether to retain the Sovereignty as a 
British possession or not, but as soon as intelligence 
of the engagement with the Basuto reached England 
a decision was formed. The next mail brought a 
despatch from the secretary of state for the colonies 
that the territory was to be abandoned. 

To carry this resolution into effect, Sir George 
Clerk was sent out as special commissioner. He 
called upon the European inhabitants to elect a body 
01 representatives to take over the government ; but 
when the representatives assembled, they objected in 
the strongest terms to be abandoned by Great Britain, 
for even while they were debating, Moshesh was 
crushing Sikonyela and another of his opponents, 
and adding their territory to his own. In effect, the 
representative assembly said to Sir George Clerk that 



268 ABANDONMENT OF THE SOVEREIGNTY. 

they held England in honour bound to reduce the 
great barbaric power she had done so much to build 
up. When that was done, they would not need 
military assistance, and would be prepared to take 
over the government of the country, though they 
wished to remain permanently connected with the 
British empire. The special commissioner, however, 
was prevented by his instructions from paying any 
attention to language of this kind, and was obliged 
to term those who used it "obstructionists." The 
assembly then sent two delegates to England to 
implore the queen's government and the parliament 
not to abandon them, but those gentlemen met with 
no success in their mission. 

Sir George Clerk now encouraged the remnant of 
the party that was at heart opposed to British rule to 
assert itself openly. With his concurrence, one of 
its ablest leaders returned from beyond the Vaal, 
and went about the country addressing the people 
and arguing that connection with England meant 
nothing but restraint, for no protection whatever was 
received. In the special commissioner's phraseology, 
Mr. Stander and those of his way of thinking, who 
used language to that effect, were " well-disposed." 

This party elected a body of delegates, who met 
in Blocmfontein, and opened negotiations with Sir 
George Clerk. The " obstructionist " assembly pro- 
tested, and was thereupon dissolved by the special 
commissioner, when most of its members and sup- 
porters, finding resistance to the will of the British 
government useless, went over to the "well-disposed" 
side, and tried to get as good terms as possible. 



SOUTH AFRICA AFTER 1854. 269 

Gold was freely used to suppress complaints — it was 
termed part compensation for losses, — and nothing 
that was possible to be done was neglected to make 
the abandonment acceptable to the people generally. 
The result was that on the 23rd of February 1854 a 
convention was signed at Bloemfontein by Sir George 
Clerk and the members of the "well-disposed" 
assembly, by which the government of the territory 
previously termed the Orange River Sovereignty, 
thereafter the Orange Free State, was transferred, 
and its future independence was guaranteed. 

There were now in South Africa five distinct 
European governments, namely of — 



British 
Possessions. 



1. The Cape Colony, 

2. Natal, 

3. British Kaffraria, 

4. The South African Republic, j Independent 

5. The Orange Free State. ) Republics. 

In 1854 the Cape Colony comprised all the land 
between the Orange river on the north, the Indian 
ocean on the south, the Atlantic ocean on the west, 
and British Kaffraria and the rivers Indvve and Tees 
on the east. 

Natal comprised the territory between the Buffalo 
and Tugela rivers on the north-east, the Umzimkulu 
river on the south-east, the Kathlamba mountains or 
Drakensberg on the west, and the Indian ocean on 
the east. 

British Kaffraria comprised the territory between 
the rivers Klipplaats, Tyumie, and Keiskama on the 



270 SOUTH AFRICA AFTER 1854. 

west, the river Kei from the junction of the KHp- 
plaats to the sea on the north-east, and the Indian 
ocean on the south-east. 

The boundaries of the South African RepubHc 
were undefined, but, roughly speaking, they were the 
Limpopo river on the north; the Vaal river and a Hne 
a Httle above Kuruman on the south, the Kalahari 
desert on the west, and the mountainous country 
corresponding with the Drakensberg on the east. 

The Orange Free State comprised the territory 
between the V^aal river, the Orange river, and the 
Drakensberg, except Basutoland and the reserves set 
a.part for coloured people. 




XXII. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 



The story of the Cape Colony from this time 
onward is very different from that of the preceding 
period. Arbitrary rule is henceforth a thing of the 
past, and a constijtution of a liberal nature, granted 
by Great Britain, gradually removes the memory of 
old grievances, and creates a strong feeling of loyalty 
to the throne and the empire in all sections of the 
civilised inhabitants. 

The imperial authorities having resolved to confer 
upon the Cape people the privilege of parliamentary 
institutions, the details were referred for arrangement 
to the legislative council, and when everything was 
settled, on the nth of March 1853 the constitution 
was promulgated by an order in council. By it two 
chambers — termed the legislative council and the 
house of assembly — were created, both of which 
are elective. The upper chamber for some years 
consisted of fifteen members, but in course of time 
this number was increased to twenty-three, beside the 
chief justice as president. For the purpose of elect- 
ing the members, the colony was divided into two 

271 



272 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CAPE COLONW 

provinces, more recently into nine circles. The 
members hold their seats for seven years. The 
house of assembly on its creation consisted of forty- 
six members, elected by twenty-two divisions, Cape- 
town having two more representatives than any of 
the others. It now consists of seventy-nine members, 
elected by thirty-nine divisions, and holding their 
seats for five years. Parliament is summoned to meet 
by the governor, but a period of twelve months must 
not elapse between the sessions. 

The right to vote for members of both chambers 
was conferred upon every male British subject over 
twenty-one years of age, who occupied a house or 
land worth £2^, or was in receipt of a salary of £2^ 
a year with board and lodging or ;^50 without. 
There was no distinction as regards race, or colour, 
or religion, or manner of living. In course of time, 
however, it was found expedient to alter these qualifi- 
cations, as in the Cape Colony there is a large class 
of people unable to comprehend the nature of repre- 
sentative institutions, and yet in possession of sufficient 
property to bring them within one of the conditions 
specified above. In 1892 the right to vote was re- 
stricted to such adult male subjects as are able to 
sign their names and write down their addresses and 
employment, and who either occupy property worth 
i^75, or receive £^^0 a year as salary or wages. 

Parliament met for the first time in June 1854. 
Since that date no law can be made without the 
approval of both houses and the sanction of the 
governor. The right is reserved to the queen to 
disallow any law so made within two years of its 



THE CAPE PARLIAMENT 



273 



reaching England, but in practice this right is very 
rarely used. The ordinary yearly sessions of tne 
parliament usually last about three months, from 
early in June to the end of August. 

Naturally the colonists were gratified with the 
change from arbitrary to representative government, 




PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CAPETOWN. 

but there was still much to wish for. The officials 
of highest rank, who formed the executive council 
and were therefore the governor's advisers, continued 
to be sent out from England, and held their appoint- 
ments during the pleasure of the secretary of state 
for the colonies, no matter whether parliament liked 

IQ 



;^74 ^^^ CONSTITUTION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 

them or not. They framed all government bills, and 
no measure involving the expenditure of money 
could be brought before the house of assembly 
unless introduced by them. They possessed the 
right ot discussion, though not of voting, in both 
chambers. 

This condition of things lasted eighteen years. In 
1872 responsible government was introduced, and 
the ministers — as the high officials are termed — have 
since that time been the leaders of the party in 
parliament that can command the largest number 
of votes in support of their measures. They are the 
colonial secretary, the treasurer, the attorney-general, 
the commissioner of public works, and the secretary 
for agriculture. There is also the premier, or prime 
minister, who may hold any of these appointments, 
or none of them ; but who, in any case, has all 
matters connected with the aboriginal races directly 
under his care. When any important measure, in- 
troduced by the government, fails to secure the 
support of a majority of the members of parliament, 
the ministers must resign, and the leader of the 
opposition is entrusted by the governor with the 
task of forming a new cabinet. 

In practice this system gives to the men who are 
chosen by the people the power of making and 
altering laws, of levying taxes and controlling the 
manner of using the public money, and of creating 
and doing away with offices. But it is a system 
adapted only for races of high civilisation. The 
majority of the day possesses supreme power, and if 
it came to consist of men whose constituents were 



THE DUTCH LANGUAGE. 275 

incapable 01 acting with moderation, the minority 
could be more grievously oppressed than under the 
purest autocratic rule. There are many thinking 
people in the colony who regard the franchise as still 
too low for pertect satety, with the existing form of 
government and the political equality of the various 
races that compose the population. 

Until 1882 the English language only could be 
used in debate in parliament, just as in the pro- 
ceedings of courts of justice or in transactions in 
the public offices. This was decidedly unfair, for 
Dutch is habitually spoken by fully three-fifths of 
the white people in the colony, and by a still larger 
proportion of the coloured inhabitants, exclusive of 
Bantu. It will be remembered that its suppression 
as the official language was one ol the chief grievances 
that rankled in the breasts ot the old colonists. The 
parliament could not be said in truth to represent the 
people as long as the language oi the majority was pro- 
scribed, and in point of fact comparatively few of the 
old stock sought admission into it. It was some time 
before they realised the full significance of responsible 
government, but when they did, one of their first acts 
was to secure the same rights for their own tongue as 
for the English. Either can now be used in parlia- 
ment, courts 01 law, and public offices, at the 
choice of the speaker, and no one is admitted into 
the ordinary branches of the civil service without a 
perfect knowledge of both. 

It would be incorrect to say that this measure has 
raised the tone of debate in parliament or improved 
the administration of justice in the slightest degree. 



276 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 

but it certainly has made the parliament more truly 
representative of the people, and it has removed a 
serious obstacle to the perfect blending of the colonists 
of Dutch and British blood, which is now happily 
in rapid progress. 




XXIII. 



THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 



Before 1857 there were hardly any Bantu in the 
Cape Colony except the Fingos who had been in- 
troduced by Sir Benjamin D'Urban and the Tembus 
of Glen Grey, while British Kaffraria —the territory 
between the Keiskama and the Kei — had very few 
white inhabitants except soldiers, as the land there 
was reserved for the section of the Kosa tribe that 
was under English rule. After that date many 
thousands of Kosas were scattered over the country 
as far west as Port Elizabeth, and a population of 
European blood occupied a considerable portion of 
the land eastward to the Kei. This change in the 
position of the two races was caused by an event 
more astounding than anything in the pages of the 
wildest romance. 

The chiefs had accepted the terms imposed upon 
them at the close of the last war, but resolved to 
renew the struggle with the white people as soon 
as circumstances would permit it. Shortly after the 
conclusion of peace, Sir George Cathcart was suc- 
ceeded as governor and high commissioner by Sir 



POLICY OF SIR GEORGE GREY. 279 

George Grey, one of the ablest administrators the 
country has ever had, and he immediately took 
steps to prevent, as he hoped, another outbreak of 
hostilities. 

As high commissioner he exercised supreme con- 
trol in British Kaffraria. Provided with a large 
amount of money from the imperial treasury, he 
attempted to pacify the chiefs by giving then 
pensions, payable monthly, as compensation for the 
power they had apparently lost, and he tried to break 
the belief in witchcraft by building a large and 
beautiful hospital in King-Williamstovvn, where any 
sick black person was attended by skilful medical 
men and provided for free of charge. Further, he 
commenced to make roads in the province, and to 
build a great sea wall at the mouth of the Buffalo 
river — called the port of East London — with the 
express object of teaching the Kosas the advantage 
of earning money by labour. In the same spirit he 
encouraged the Wesleyan and Free Church mission- 
ary societies to establish industrial institutions, where 
young Fingos and Kosas could be trained as gardeners, 
carpenters, blacksmiths, and waggon-makers, and 
where a number of the most intelligent boys could 
be educated as interpreters, schoolmasters, and evan- 
gelists. One of the institutions which he thus assisted 
with funds is still in existence. This is Lovedale, 
an establishment of the Free Church, where an ex- 
ceedingly good training has ever since been given, 
and where at the present time some five or six 
hundred youths of both sexes are living as pupils. 

These truly philanthropic measures, however, re- 



28o THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 

quired many years to produce a good effect, and even 
then a very small proportion of the people would be 
benefited by them. They had not well been taken in 
hand when tidings reached the high commissioner 
in Capetown that cattle in unusual numbers were 
being slaughtered in and beyond British Kaffraria, 
and that the Kosas were assuming a defiant attitude. 
Colonel Maclean, who had succeeded Colonel Mackin- 
non as head of the local government, was not long 
in finding out and reporting the cause. 

One morning in May 1856 a girl named Nong- 
kause went to draw water from a little stream that 
flowed past her home. On her return, she stated 
that she had seen by the river some men who differed 
greatly in appearance from those she was accustomed 
to meet. Her uncle, whose name was Umhlakaza, 
went to see the strangers, and found them at the 
place indicated. They told him to return home and , 
go through certain ceremonies, after which he was to 
offer an ox in sacrifice to the spirits of the dead, and 
to come back to them on the fourth day. There was 
that in their appearance which commanded obedience, 
and so the man did as they bade him. On the fourth 
day he went to the river again. The strange people 
were there as before, and to his astonishment he 
recognised among them his brother who had been 
many years dead. Then, for the first time, he learned 
who and what they were. The eternal enemies of 
the white man, they announced themselves as having 
come from battle-fields beyond the sea to aid the 
Kosas with their invincible power in driving the 
English from the land. Between them and the chiefs 



SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE KOSAS. 281 

Umhlakaza was to be the medium of communication, 
the channel through which instruction would be given. 
For strange things were to be done, stranger than 
any that had ever been done before, if the proffered 
assistance was welcomed. And first, he must tell the 
people to abandon dealing in witchcraft, to kill fat 
cattle and eat. 

Such is the tale which the Kosas told each other 
of the manner in which Umhlakaza and Nongkause 
became acquainted with the secrets of the spirit 
world. Umhlakaza and Nongkause ! What terrible 
visions of suffering and death are called forth in 
Kaffirland now at the mention of those two names ! 

Kreli, the paramount chief of the tribe, hailed the 
message with joy, and indeed it is generally believed 
— though it cannot be proved — that he was the 
instigator of the scheme. His word went forth that 
the command of the spirits was to be obeyed, that 
the best of all the cattle were to be killed and eaten. 
Messengers from him hastened to the chiefs in British 
Kaffraria to inform them of what had taken place, 
and to require their co-operation. Instantly the 
clans were in a state of commotion. Most of the 
chiefs commenced to kill, but one, Sandile, timid and 
hesitating, for a time held back. The high com- 
missioner sent word to Kreli that though in his own 
territory he could do as he pleased, he must cease 
from instigating those who were British subjects to 
destroy their property, or it would become necessary 
to punish him. But he cared little for such a threat, 
as the time was at hand when it would be for him to 
talk of punishing. 



282 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 

The revelations communicated through Umhlakaza 
grew apace. The girl, standing in the river in pre- 
sence of a multitude of deluded people, heard strange 
unearthly sounds beneath her feet, which Umhlakaza 
pronounced to be the voices of spirits holding council 
over the affairs of men. The first order was to slay- 
cattle, but the greedy ghosts seemed insatiable in 
their demands. More and more were killed, but still 
never enough. And thus the delusion continued 
month after month, every day spreading wider and 
embracing fresh victims in its grasp. After a while 
Sandile gave way to the urgent applications of his 
brother Makoma, who asserted that he had himself 
seen and conversed with the spirits of two of his 
father's dead councillors, and that they commanded 
Sandile to kill his cattle if he would not perish with 
the white man. 

Before this time the last order of Umhlakaza had 
been given, that order whose fulfilment was to be the 
final preparation of the Kosas, after which they would 
be worthy of the aid of a spirit host. Not an animal 
out of all their herds must be left living, every grain 
of corn in their granaries must be destroyed. But 
what a future of glory and wealth was predicted for 
the faithful and obedient ! On a certain day myriads 
of cattle, more beautiful than those they were called 
upon to kill, were to issue from the earth and cover 
the pastures far and wide. Great fields of millet, ripe 
and ready for eating, were in an instant to spring 
into existence. The ancient heroes of the race, the 
great and the wise of days gone by, restored to life 
on that happy day, would appear and take part in 



SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE KOSAS. 283 

the joys of the faithful. Trouble and sickness would 
be known no more, nor would the frailties of old age 
oppress them, for youth and beauty were to return 
alike to the risen dead and the feeble living. Such 
was the picture of Paradise painted by the Kosa 
prophet, and held before the eyes of the infatuated 
people. And dreadful was to be the fate of those 
who opposed the will of the spirits, or neglected to 
obey their commands. The day that was to bring 
so much joy to the loyal would bring nothing but 
destruction for them. The sky itself would fall and 
crush them together with the Fingos and the whites. 

Missionaries and agents of the government tried in 
vain to stay the mad proceedings. A delirious frenzy 
possessed the 'minds of the Kosas, and they would 
listen to no argument, brook no opposition. White 
men who attempted to interfere with them in any 
way were scowled upon and warned to take care of 
themselves. Yet these fanatics, with their imagina- 
tions fixed on boundless wealth, were eagerly pur- 
chasing trifles from English traders, bartering away 
the hides of two hundred thousand slaughtered cattle. 
Most of them acted under the influence of supersti- 
tion alone, though there is no doubt that some of the 
leaders viewed the proceeding as calculated solely foi 
purposes of war. To throw the whole Kosa tribe, 
fully armed and in a famishing state, upon the colony, 
was the end kept steadily in view by these. The 
terrible odds against the success of such a venture 
they were too blind to see or too excited to calculate. 

Some there were who neither believed the predic- 
tions of Umhlakaza nor looked for success in war, 



284 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA, 

and who yet destroyed the last particle of their food. 
Bukhu, Kreli's uncle, was one of these. " It is the 
chiefs command," said he, and then, when nothing 
more was left, the old man and his favourite wife sat 
down in their empty kraal and died. Kreli's prin- 
cipal councillor opposed the scheme till he saw that 
words were useless. Then, observing that all he had 
was his chiefs, he gave the order to kill and waste, 
and fled from the place a raving lunatic. Thus it 
was with thousands. The chief commanded, and 
they obeyed. 

In the early months of 1857 an unwonted activity 
reigned throughout the country from the Keiskama 
to the Bashee. Great kraals were being prepared for 
the reception of the cattle, so soon to appear like stars 
of the sky in multitude. Enormous skin bags were 
being made to contain the milk shortly to be like 
water in plenty. And even as they worked some 
were starving. East of the Kei the prophet's com- 
mand had been obeyed to the letter, but the resur- 
rection day was still postponed. It was in mercy to 
the Gaikas, said Umhlakaza, for Sandile had not 
finished killing yet. Nothing surely was ever more 
clumsily arranged, more blindly carried out than this 
mad act of the Kosas. One section of the tribe was 
literally starving, while another section was still 
engaged in destroying its resources. 

The government did all that was possible to 
protect the frontier. Every post was strengthened, 
and every available soldier was sent forward. The 
colonists, too, were prepared to meet the expected 
shock, come when it would. And then, after defence 



SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE KOSAS. 285 

was provided for, stores of food were accumulated for 
the purpose of saving life. For there could be no 
heart so cold as not to feel pity for those misguided 
beings who were rushing so frantically into certain 
destruction. 

At length the morning dawned of the day so long 
and so ardently looked for. All night long the 
Kosas had watched with feelings stretched to the 
utmost tension of excitement, expecting to see two 
blood-red suns rise over the eastern hills, when the 
heavens would fall and crush the races they hated. 
Famished with hunger, half-dying as they were, that 
night was yet a time of fierce, delirious joy. The 
morn, that a few short hours, slowly becoming 
minutes, would usher in, was to see all their sorrows 
ended, all their misery past. And so they waited 
and watched. At length the sun approached the 
horizon, throwing first a silver sheen upon the 
mountain peaks, and then bathing hillside and 
valley in a flood of light The hearts of the 
watchers sank within them. " What," said they, 
" will become of us if Umhlakaza's predictions turn 
out untrue ? " But perliaps, after all, it might be 
midday that was meant, and when the shadows 
began to lengthen towards the cast, perhaps, they 
thought, the setting of the sun is the time. The 
sun went down — as it often does in that fair land — 
behind clouds of crimson and gold, and the Kosas 
awoke to the reality of their dreadful position. 

A blunder, such as a child would hardly have 
made, had been committed by the managers of this 
horrible tragedy. Under pretence of witnessing the 



286 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 

resurrection, they should have assembled the warriors 
of the whole tribe at some point from which they 
could have burst in a body upon the colony. This 
had not been done, and now it was too late to collect 
them together. An attempt was made to rectify the 
blunder, and the day of resurrection was again post- 
poned, but fierce excitement had gtven place to 
deepest despair. The only chance ot life that re- 
mained was to reach the colony, but it was as sup- 
pliants, not as warriors, that the famished people 
must now go. 

The horrors that succeeded can only be partly 
told. There are intelligent men living now, then 
wild naked fugitives, who cannot recount the events 
of those days. The whole scene comes home to 
them as a hideous nightmare, or as the remem- 
brances of one in a state ot delirium. In many 
instances all the ties were broken that bind human 
beings to each other in every condition oi society. 
Brother fought with brother, lather with son, for 
scraps and shreds of those great milk sacks so care- 
fully made in the days when hope was high. The 
aged, the sick, the feeble, were abandoned by the 
young and vigorous. All kinds oi wild plants, 
and even the roots of trees, were collected for food. 
Many of those who were near the sea coast endea- 
voured to support life upon the shellfish found there. 
Being unaccustomed to such diet, they were attacked 
by dysentery, which completed the work of tamine. 
In other instances whole families sat down and died 
together. From fifteen to twenty skeletons were 
afterwards often found under a single tree, showing 



SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE KOSAS. 287 

where parents and children met their fate when the 
last ray of hope had fled. A continuous stream of 
emaciated beings poured into the colony, young 
men and women mostly, but sometimes fathers and 
mothers bearing on their backs half-dying children. 
Before the farmhouses they would sit down, and ask 
in the most piteous tones for food, nor did they ask 
in vain. 

Between the first and last days of 1857 the official 
returns of British Kaffraria showed a decrease in the 
population from one hundred and five thousand to 
thirty-eight thousand of both sexes and all ages. 
Sixty-seven thousand had perished or dispersed. In 
the centre of this territory was King-Will iamstown 
where the government had provided a quantity of 
corn, by which the lives of thousands were saved. 
Between the Kei and the Bashee there was no such 
storehouse, and flight, except to rival and unfriendly 
tribes, was next to impossible. The death-rate there 
was consequently higher than in British Kaffraria. 
The lowest computation fixes the number of those 
who perished on both sides of the Kei at twenty- 
five thousand, ordinary calculations give double that 
number. The power of the Kosa tribe was for the 
time completely broken. 

Large tracts of land in British Kaffraria having 
become waste by this mad act of the Kosas, Sir 
George Grey allotted farms of about fifteen hundred 
acres in size to a considerable number of selected 
individuals from the Cape Colony, to be held under 
tenure of military service and a small quitrent. A 
strong body of European settlers was thus stationed 



288 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 

in advance of the most formidable Kaffir strongholds. 
Some regiments of the German legion, raised by 
Great Britain during the Crimean war, were sent 
out, and were disbanded in the province, where plots 
of land were assigned to the officers and soldiers 
on a military village system. Many of these men 
prospered, and they were undoubtedly of great 
service to the country, but on the whole the villages 
were failures. The proportion of women was too 
small to give reasonable hope of permanency to the 
settlem.ents, and the men were better adapted for life 
in towns than as tillers of the soil. Most of them 
dispersed as soon as the issue of rations ceased. 

A body of agricultural labourers selected from the 
hardy peasantry of Northern Germany was intro- 
duced shortly afterwards. The men were accom- 
panied by their wives and children, and were inured 
to toil and accustomed to rough living. In 1858 and 
1859 these people, in number rather over two thou- 
sand, landed at East London. They were sent out 
under a contract between Sir George Grey and a 
merchant in Hamburg, and were bound to refund 
within a certain period the cost of their transport 
and to pay twenty shillings an acre for the ground 
allotted to them. They were located in different 
parts of the province, but chiefly in the valley of the 
Buffalo river. No better settlers couM have been 
introduced. By their industry, in the course of a 
few years they became possessed of a considerable 
amount of stock and brought their little farms to a 
high state of cultivation. As market gardeners they 
were unrivalled in South Africa. Frugal, temperate 



ANNEXATION TO THE CAPE COLONY. 289 

industrious, and religious, they contributed vary- 
largely to the prosperity of the province. 

King-Williamstown soon grew to be a place of no 
little importance. It was garrisoned by a strong 
body of British troops, and was the centre of a large 
trade, besides being the seat of the local government. 

In theory the Cape parliament had no power to 
legislate for British Kaffraria, but in practice as soon 
as an act was passed in Capetown the high com- 
missioner proclaimed it of force in the province, and 
thus secured uniformity in the laws. The revenue 
was small, and required to be supplemented by 
grants in aid from the imperial treasury. But now 
that the territory had ceased to be occupied exclu- 
sively by Bantu, it seemed to the queen's ministers 
that it might with advantage be incorporated with 
the Cape Colony, and this burden be removed from 
the British taxpayer. Proposals to that effect were 
therefore brought before the Cape parliament on 
several occasions, but were always rejected. At 
length the imperial parliament passed an act of 
union, which was, however, only to take effect after 
the lapse of a certain period, and provided the Cape 
parliament did not in the meantime annex the 
province. Armed with this document. Sir Philip 
Wodehouse, Sir George Grey's successor as governor 
and high commissioner, introduced a bill which 
provided for the incorporation of British Kaffraria 
as two electoral divisions — King-Williamstown and 
East London— and after much opposition it was 
passed by a majority of both houses of the Cape 
legislature, and in 1865 was carried into effect. 

20 



^1 




XXIV. 



THE COLONY OF NATAL AND THE 
OF ZULU LAND. 



DEPENDENCY 



Natal became a British possession at a very 
unfortunate time for the crood of the country. Senti- 
ment in England was then running so strong in 
favour of black people, that this beautiful and fertile 
country, which might have been made the home of 
many thousands of industrious European families, 
was given away to any Bantu who chose to enter it. 

There are, of course, different ways of looking at 
this matter. The Bantu themselves, who regard 
their mode of life as vastly preferable to ours, 
inasmuch as it is comparatively free of care and toil, 
certainly think their possession of Natal proper and 
desirable. The missionary looking for raw material 
to work with is naturally of the same opinion. But 
the man who believes that the strengthening of the 
European element would be a blessing to Africa itself, 
who is convinced that the native tribes of the 
continent can never become civilised except under 
European government and under the guidance and 
control of a strong body of European settlers, must 



INFLUX OF BANTU. 29 1 

look Upon the alienation of the soil of Natal to the 
Bantu as a very great mistake. 

As soon as Great Britain was dominant there, all 
who were in fear of Panda made their way into the 
country, where they were sure of being protected and 
of being allowed to live as they chose. Their birth- 
place and that of their fathers might be far away, but 
they were all termed natives by the government, 
and as soon as arrangements could be made tracts of 
land were assigned to them to live upon. Mission- 
aries settled among them, and in course of time a 
few became converts to Christianity and made some 
advance towards civilisation. But the great majority 
remain what their forefathers were, for it cannot be said 
that their use of a few articles of European manufac- 
ture is an indication of any real change. 

There are no people in the world more prolific 
than the Bantu of South Africa, and though their 
death rate in towns partly occupied by Europeans is 
high, in their own kraals where they live after the 
custom of their ancestors it is low. The consequence 
is an amazingly rapid increase of population, wher- 
ever the old checks of war and punishment for 
dealing in witchcraft are removed. At the present 
day there are no fewer than half a million of these 
people within the borders of Natal. They are per- 
mitted to live according to their own laws and 
customs, but they pay a small hut-tax, and the 
government exercises general control over them. 

Owing to their presence in such numbers the 
country has failed to attract European settlers, and 
only one large body of white immigrants has ever 



292 NATAL AND ZULU LAND. 

entered it since the British conquest. Between 1848 
and 1 85 1 some four or five thousand EngUsh people 
arrived, to whom small plots of ground were given ; 
but many of them afterwards removed to Australia, 
and few remained as cultivators of the soil. White 
people from abroad settle in the country every 
year, but never in large numbers. At the present 
day they are not more than forty-four thousand all 
told, that is, for every twelve African blacks there is 
only one white person. 

Although the disparity in number is so great, the 
Bantu have not often disturbed the peace of the 
country, and only on two or three occasions has it 
been necessary to use military force against defiant 
chiefs. They have as yet ample space for living 
comfortably in their own way, and taxation is so 
light that they do not feel it as a burden. But this 
condition of things cannot be permanent, for they are 
multiplying so rapidly that there must some day be 
a struggle for more room. What form it may take 
cannot, of course, be foreseen. 

Only once since the British occupation of the 
country has there been a serious disturbance within 
its borders. In 1848 a section of the Hlubi tribe fled 
from Zululand, and had a location assigned to it at 
the sources of the Bushman's river, under the 
Drakensberg. The Hlubi had once been the largest 
tribe in South-Eastern Africa, but in Tshaka's wars 
most of its members weve killed, and those who sur- 
vived were dispersed far and wide. " There was a 
white mark from the Tngela to Thaba Ntshu, and 
that mark was our bones," said once an old Hlubi to 



THE HLUBI TRIBE. 293 

the writer of this volume, in recounting his personal 
adventures. He might have added that there was 
a similar line from the Tugela to the Kei. Along 
both these routes a few fugitives were scattered, and 
these have multiplied so greatly that if their des- 
cendants could all be collected together to-day the 
Hlubi would again stand out as the largest tribe of 
the country. 

The great chiefs had perished in Tshaka's wars, 
and the one of highest rank that was left was 
Langalibalele — in English " The Sun is burning " — 
the head of the clan that sought refuge in Natal. A 
stranger visiting his location in 1873 would have 
regarded him as a man of little importance, with a 
following of not more than ten thousand souls, all 
told ; but those acquainted with his history knew 
that he was held in strong attachment by clans as far 
away as the Caledon in one direction and the Fish 
river in another. 

There was a law in Natal, required for public 
safety, that no Bantu should have guns in their 
possession without being registered. In other parts 
of South Afi'ica guns were obtainable, and Langa- 
libalele, setting the law at defiance, sent his young 
men away to earn money and purchase these weapons, 
which were brought by hundreds into his location 
without the necessary formalities being observed. 
When this became known, the chief was called upon 
to account for his guns, but he declined to do so. 
Message after message was sent, requiring him to 
appear at Maritzburg, but he made excuses, and 
never went. It was subsequently proved that he 



294 NATAL AND ZULULAND. 

was in treasonable correspondence with other chiefs, 
and he must have felt himself strong enough to main- 
tain his independence against the Europeans. 

Peaceable means having failed to secure his 
obedience, an armed party was sent to enforce the 
demands of the government. Upon its approach 
Langalibalele abandoned his women and children, 
and with his cattle and most of his warriors fell back 
upon the mountains. In the Bushman's pass Major 
Durnford and a small party of volunteers overtook 
the rearguard of the rebels. The chief was in 
advance, and as the volunteers had orders not to 
fire first, they attempted to communicate with him. 
The induna in command pretended to send for the 
chief, and while waiting for him to arrive, the 
volunteers were being surrounded. At the same time 
threatening gestures and language, coupled with 
taunts, were used towards them. They fell back in 
a panic, when too late, and as they did so five of 
them were shot down. 

The colonists at once awoke to a sense of their 
danger. They did not know how far the inclination 
to rebel extended, but of one thing they were certain : 
that nothing but the prompt punishment of the 
Hlubis would prevent all who were disaffected from 
rising in arms. Volunteers at once came forward. 
Everywhere in South Africa the Europeans were 
ready to help. The government of the Cape Colony 
took immediate measures to render effectual assis- 
tance, and the two republics expressed a willingness 
to give aid if needed. It was recognised that not 
only the peace of Natal, but of the entire country, was 



REBELLION OF LANGALIBALELE. 295 

imperilled, for if time was given for all the sections 
of the Hlubi tribe to unite with the clan in rebellion 
a general war of races might ensue. 

Langalibalele and his warriors cro-sed the Dra- 
kensberg to Basutoland, in expectation of being 
joined there by one of Moshesh's sons ; but such 
prompt measures were taken by the governments of 
the Cape Colony and Natal that the rebels were sur- 
rounded before they reached their destination, and 
the chief, with some of his principal men, who were 
in advance, were obliged to surrender to the Cape 
frontier armed and mounted police. The main body 
made an attempt to resist, but were dispersed after a 
sharp action, and all the cattle were captured. 

During this time the excitement of the Natal 
colonists was naturally very high, and what, under 
ordinary circumstances, would be regarded as undue 
severity was exercised towards the people Langali- 
balele had left behind, as well as to another clan that 
sympathised with him. But as soon as the danger 
was over, violent measures of every kind ceased. 

Langalibalele was tried by a special court, which 
sentenced him to banishment for life ; and as Natal 
had no outlying dependency to send him to, an act 
was passed by the Cape parliament authorising his 
detention on Robben Island. His clan was broken 
up, and the ground it had occupied was resumed by 
the government. 

This event attracted a great deal of attention in 
England, chiefly through the action of the Aborigines 
Protection Society and of Bishop Colenso, who repre- 
sented the conduct of the white people and of the 



296 NATAL AND ZULU LAND. 

government as in the highest degree cruel and unjust 
towards the Hlubis. The Natal clergy, some sixty 
ministers and missionaries of different denominations, 
did their utmost to show that it was not so ; but their 
opinions were in general unheeded, as were also the 
statements of the South African press. The imperial 
ministry reflected the sentiments of the people. Sir 
Benjamin Pine, the governor of Natal, was recalled. 
Compensation was ordered to be given from the 
colonial treasury to the clan that had suffered loss 
owing to its sympathy VA'ith the rebels ; various 
Hlubis who had been condemned to terms of im- 
pris(;nment had their sentences commuted ; and it 
was required that Langalibalele should be removed 
from Robben Island to a farm on the mainland, 
where he could have the society of his wives and be 
treated as a prisoner of state. These orders were of 
course promptly carried out. Langalibalele remained 
an exile for twelve years, during which time he was 
provided with every possible comfort. He was then 
permitted to return to Natal, and died there shortly 
afterwards. 

The belt of land along the coast north of the 
Umzimkulu has a tropical vegetation, though it is 
perfectly healthy for Europeans. It seemed therefore 
to present a favourable field for the production of 
coffee, sugar, ginger, arrowroot, cotton, and tea, and 
no long time elapsed before experiments began to 
be made. Not a plant among them all but throve 
wonderfully well, so that, it was hoped and expected 
that Natal would shortly become one of the most 
valuable dependencies of Great Britain. Here was a 



IMPORTATION OF INDIANS, 297 

favourable soil and a favourable climate, and here, 
thought people at a distance, in the teeming Bantu 
locations was a great reservoir of labour that could be 
utilised for the good of both employers and employed. 
But the Bantu declined to be utilised in this way. 
Some of them were willing to work for a while when 
the whim seized them and they had a particular 
object in view, but they could never be depended 
upon, and were prone to leave service just when they 
were most needed. 

The planters then turned to India for a supply 
of labour. Coolies were engaged there, and were 
brought over under contracts for a term of years. 
By their assistance the soil was made to bring 
forth tropical products in considerable quantities, 
but eventually some were destroyed by diseases and 
others were found not to pay. Sugar has succeeded 
best. After providing for home consumption, in 1895 
sugar was exported to the value of ;^58,725, tea to 
the value of ^1,553, coffee to the value of ;^i,352, and 
arrowroot to the value of ;^ 1,634. 

It was supposed that the coolies would return to 
India when their contracts expired, as they were 
entitled to free passages back ; but they had found 
a goodly land, and many of them had no mind to 
leave it. Some of their countrymen of the trading 
class were next attracted by the accounts spread by 
those who returned, and soon quite a little stream of 
Indian immigrants set in. As they can live upon 
the merest trifle, European competitors were rapidly 
driven out, and retail dealing, with all kinds of light 
labour, fell into their hands. They contribute nothing 




« > 

Q -o 
< a 



< S 

2 o 



MODE OF LIFE OF EUROPEANS. 299 

towards the military strength of the country and very 
little towards its revenue. They are now equal in 
number to the white people, so that Natal cannot be 
regarded as an English colony in the same sense as 
Canada or Australia. It is more like a miniature 
India, a country occupied chiefly by alien races, but 
with a government and upper caste of Europeans, ^ 

The circumstances under which they lived deter- 
mined the mode of life of the white people of Natal. 
They became for the most part traders and forwarders 
of goods to the interior republics. There are planters 
and farmers among them, but more than half of the 
whole number reside in the two towns, Maritzburg 
and Durban, and a large proportion of the remainder 
occupy villages along the trade routes. Their spirit 
and sentiments are largely affected by this circum- 
stance. It has been observed as something strange 
that an Englishman long resident on a farm in the 
Cape Colony feels himself perfectly at home if he 
visits the Orange Free State, yet is like an alien in 
Natal. But the cause is easily explained : in the one 
case he is among people of familiar instincts, in the 
other he is not. 

Maritzburg and Durban have thriven greatly of 
late years. Durban is the gateway through which 
passes the commerce not only of the colony itself 
and of Zululand, but of part of the Orange Free State 
and the South African Republic. Extensive works 
have been constructed to improve the entrance to 
the inner harbour, and large ships can now cross 
the bar and lie beside a wharf as safely as in a dock. 
Numerous handsome buildings, chief among which 



300 NATAL AND ZULULAND, 

is the grandest municipal hall in South Africa, em- 
bellish this town. 

From Durban a railway has been constructed to 
the heart of the South African Republic, where it 
meets the line from Capetown to Lourengo Marques. 
It passes through Maritzburg, and also through the 
villages of Estcourt, Ladysmith, and Newcastle 
farther inland. From Ladysmith a branch line 
runs by way of Van Reenen's pass in the Drakens- 
berg to Harrismith in the Orange Free State, and 
taps the trade of the eastern part of the republic. 
It goes up the Drakensberg in a series of zigzag 
sections, but in places the gradients are very heavy, 
as they are likewise on the main line. It is in 
contemplation to continue the railway from Harri- 
smith until it meets the great north-eastern line 
through the Cape Colony and the Orange Free 
State, which will give shorter unbroken communi- 
cation between Capetown and Durban than by 
the way of Johannesburg, as at present. Close 
to the coast there is a branch line northward to 
the village of Verulam, and one southward to 
Isipingo. 

The main branch of this system of railways has 
the great advantage of passing through an extensive 
field of coal of fair quality, from which fuel can be 
obtained at a cheap rate. It is on the plateau at 
the foot of the Drakensberg, so that it is centrally 
situated, and the coal, which is easily worked, is con- 
veyed to the coast along a descending gradient. It 
is not the least important of the natural riches of 
Natal. Besides furnishing fuel for the railways and 



CONSTITUTION OF NATAL. 3OI 

the towns, in 1895, over seventy thousand pounds' 
worth was exported. 

The legislature of the colony has undergone many 
changes. For some years there was a council entirely 
of nominees, but in 1856 a charter was granted by 
the queen, when it became chiefly elective. From 
that date until 1893 the proportion of elective to 
nominee members was frequently altered, and then 
responsible government was introduced. There are 
now two chambers : a legislative council of eleven 
nominee members, holding their seats for ten years, 
and a legislative assembly of thirty-seven elected 
members, holding their seats for four years. 

The franchise differs in principle from that of the 
Cape Colony, or representative government of any 
kind would be an impossibility. Male British sub- 
jects, not being Bantu, who own land worth £^0, or 
who pay i^io a year for rent, or who have lived three 
years in the country and are in receipt of salaries of 
£(^6 a year, are entitled to vote. Bantu are excluded, 
except those who possess the above qualifications, and 
in addition have been by their own desire for seven 
years exempted from tribal and subject to colonial 
law. This provision secures equal rights with Euro- 
peans for the few who have embraced Christianity 
and live in a civilised manner, while it withholds 
from the great barbarous mass a privilege of which 
they are incapable of making proper use. 

The public debt of Natal is rather over eight 
million pounds sterling, apparently a very large sum 
for a colony of only forty-four thousand Europeans 
to owe. as it means an indebtedness of /"182 for each 



302 NATAL AND ZULULAND, 

individual. But the Indians should count for some- 
thing in apportioning the public debt, though it would 
be difficult to say in what ratio they should be classi- 
fied with Europeans. The great mass of Bantu, if 
reckoned at all, must appear on the other side of the 
ledger. The railways are public property, and a con- 
siderable portion of the debt was incurred for the 
purpose of constructing them. 

The history of Zululand is so closely connected 
with that of Natal that it can conveniently be in- 
cluded in the same chapter. Panda, who became 
independent of foreign control in 1843, was much 
less intelligent than either of his predecessors, Tshaka 
or Dingan. Soon after his accession to power he 
grew so stout as to be unwieldy, and never after- 
wards displayed activity of any kind, bodily or 
mental. Two of his sons, however, Umbulazi and 
Cetyvvayo by name, grew up to be men of superior 
ability. Though the discipline of the army was 
greatly relaxed, the military system introduced by 
Tshaka was still kept up, and the regiments were 
divided in their attachment to the young chiefs. 
" Two young bulls cannot live together in the same 
kraal," said Panda; "one must drive the other out 
or be gored." The brothers were of the same opinion. 
In December 1856 a battle was fought between 
their adherents on the northern bank of the Tugela, 
which resulted in complete victory for Cetywayo. 
His brother must have been killed, though the body 
was not found, for he was never seen again. Then 
a dreadful massacre of the defeated chief's adherents 
took place, when not only the men, but the women 



CETYWAYO. 303 

and children related to them, were put to death. 
About one-fourth of the Zulus perished. 

From that day Cetywayo was the real ruler of the 
tribe, though his father lived until 1872. The young 
chief was a man of prepossessing appearance, digni- 
fied in manner, and gifted with mental power in a 
high degree. But he was as pitiless as a piece of 
steel, and human life under his government was 
sacrificed with as little compunction as the life of 
oxen and cows. Much as one could wish it other- 
wise, observation shows that this is the kind of rule 
which brings out what is best in the Bantu character 
as well as what is worst, and under Cetywayo the 
Zulus were recognised by every one as the most 
intelligent, the most active, and the most fearless 
of all the blacks in South Africa. They were the 
most handsome too, for constant exercise in arms 
and in military drill greatly improved their appear- 
ance. Discipline had become relaxed during the 
fifteen years following Panda's accession, but by 
Cetywayo it was restored to the same condition as 
under Tshaka. 

As time went on the Zulus became more and more 
a menace to their neighbours. Hemmed in between 
the South African Republic, Natal, and the sea, if 
they used their arms at all, it could only be against 
a civilised power. 

In 1877 Sir Bartle Frere became governor of the 
Cape Colony and high commissioner for South Africa. 
No man had a kinder heart or a more earnest desire 
to promote the welfare of the people of the country, 
white and black, the Zulus as well as British subjects. 



304 NATAL AND ZULULAND. 

But war with Cetywayo had become a necessity, and 
he could not avoid it without betraying his trust. It 
was his duty to protect the queen's subjects, and 
there was no question that many of them were in 
imminent peril, and must so remain until the Zulu 
military system came to an end. Unfortunately he did 
not know how strong the Zulu army really was, and 
none of those upon whom he depended for informa- 
tion were able to tell him. Cetywayo gave him more 
than one provocation. A powerful Zulu force paraded 
along the British border, and the chief spoke of it as 
a mere hunting party. English officials who were 
sent into Zululand as envoys were treated by the 
indunas in a contemptuous manner. Zulu subjects 
crossed the boundary, seized two women on Natal 
soil and carried them away to death, and Cetywayo, 
when called upon for redress, treated the matter as of 
trifling importance. In several serious disturbances 
by Bantu tribes in distant parts of South Africa the 
agency of the Zulu chief was clearly traced, and in 
many other respects he showed himself an enemy to 
the civilised governments of the country. 

In December 1878 Sir Bartle Frere, having col- 
lected a military force in Natal which every one 
believed to be strong enough for the purpose, sent an 
ultimatum to Cetywayo, in which he demanded re- 
dress for the injuries sustained, and called upon the 
chief to disband his army. As no notice was taken 
of the message, on the loth of January, 1879, an 
Enelish army entered Zululand in three divisions, 
consisting partly of British soldiers, partly of colonists, 
and partly of blacks. 



ISANDLWANA, 305 

Ten days after crossing the Buffalo the central 
column formed a camp at the foot of the hill 
Isandlwana — that is The Little Hand — within sight 
of the Natal border. The country was so rough that 
it needed all that time to construct a road along which 
provisions could be conveyed. On the following 
morning part of the column, with Lord Chelmsford, 
the conimander-in-chief, left the camp and moved 
away to attack a kraal several miles distant. Some 
Dutch farmers had advised the English officers to 
take precautions against surprise, and had told them 
of the encounters with Dingan, but their warnings 
were disregarded. Nothing was done for protection 
at Isandlwana, though there were waggons enough to 
form a lager. Not a trench was dug nor a spadeful 
of earth thrown up in a bank. No one there even 
dreamed of danger until a little before noon on the 
22nd of January 1879, when the horns of a Zulu army 
about twenty thousand strong were closing around the 
camp. 

The fight for life was stubborn, but the odds on the 
enemy's side were too great, and all was soon over. 
A [ew, principally mounted irregulars, managed to 
make their way out of the circle of Zulu spears before 
it was quite closed, but the ground was full of boulders 
and dry beds of occasional torrents, so that many of 
these even were overtaken and killed. With them 
were Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill, who were 
trying to save the colours of the first battalion of 
the 24th regiment, and who reached the Natal bank 
of the Buffalo before they were struck down. The 
colours were found in the river some days afterwards. 

21 



306 NATAL AND ZULULAND. 

At Isandlwana nearly seven hundred British soldiers 
and over one hundred and thirty colonists perished, 
for the Zulus gave no quarter. The victors lost about 
three thousand men. 

Information of the terrible disaster reached Lord 
Chelmsford in the afternoon. An officer had ridden 
towards the camp, and had seen it in possession of 
the Zulus. The party with the general, though 
weary from marching in the hot sun, at once com- 
menced to retreat, for all its stores of every kind were 
lost. Isandlwana was reached shortly after nightfall, 
and there, among the corpses of their slain comrades, 
officers and men, alike worn out with anxiety and 
fatigue, lay down and tried to rest. The Zulus, after 
plundering the camp, had retired. At early dawn the 
retreating band resumed its march, and reached Natal 
without being molested. 

At Rorke's Drift, where the column had crossed 
the Buffalo, there was a small depot of provisions and 
a hospital, and there a hundred and thirty soldiers, 
under Lieutenants Bromhead and Chard, had been 
left to keep open communication with Natal. About 
five o'clock in the afternoon of the day of Isandlwana 
this post was attacked by between three and four 
thousand of the very best of the Zulu soldiers, 
commanded by Dabulamanzi, a brother of Cetywayo. 
Fortunately the garrison had received warning in time 
to enable them to make a lager of sacks of maize 
and boxes of biscuits, behind which they maintained 
such a gallant defence until four o'clock in the morn- 
ing of the 23rd that Dabulamanzi then thought it 
prudent to retire. Over three hundred of his men 



INVASION OF ZULULAND. 307 

were lying dead around the lager. Of the garrison 
seventeen were dead and ten were wounded. This 
splendid defence saved Natal from invasion, for if the 
post had fallen the colony would have been open to 
the Zulus. 

The other columns fared better than the one whose 
fate has been told. Colonel Pearson, with about two 
thousand European combatants and the same number 
of blacks, crossed the Tugela near the sea, and marched 
towards Ulundi, the Zulu capital, where the whole of 
the invading forces intended to unite. At Inyesane 
he was attacked by a Zulu army between four and 
five thousand strong, but beat it back with heavy 
loss, and on the 23rd of January reached the Nor- 
wegian mission station Etshowe. Here he learned 
of the disaster at Isandlwana, so he sent his cavalry 
and blacks back to Natal, and fortified the station, 
where he remained until reinforcements arrived from 
England. 

The third column consisted of about seventeen 
hundred British soldiers, fifty farmers under Com- 
mandant Pieter Uys, and three or four hundred 
blacks. It was commanded by Colonel Evelyn 
Wood. This column was not attacked on its march, 
and after Isandlwana fortified a post at Kambula, 
where it remained. Colonel Wood managed to 
inflict much damage upon the Zulus in his neighbour- 
hood by frequent sallies, but on one occasion, at a 
mountain named Hlobane, his patrol was nearly 
surrounded, and ninety-six of the party were killed. 
Among them were Commandant Uys, Colonel 
Weatherley, and the son of the latter, a mere youth, 



308 NATAL AND ZULULAND, 

who died at his father's side just as Uyss brother 
had died by his father's side forty-one years before. 
On the day after this event the lager at Kambula was 
attacked by a great Zulu army, which suffered tre- 
mendous loss before it retired discomfited. 

In the beginning of April Lord Chelmsford, with 
a strong force of soldiers and sailors, marched from 
Natal to the relief of Colonel Pearson at Etshowe. 
On the way he was attacked at Ginginhlovu, but beat 
back his assailants, and succeeded in reaching the 
station. 

As soon as intelligence of the disaster at Isandlwana 
reached England strong reinforcements were sent out, 
and before June some nine thousand soldiers, cavalry 
and infantry, with a vast quantity of munitions of war 
and provisions, reached Natal. With them came the 
young prince imperial of France, who was fated to 
lose his life a few weeks later in a lonely dell in 
Zululand. He went out from a camp with a small 
reconnoitring party, which was surprised by a band 
of Zulus while it was resting, and the prince, being 
unable to mount his horse, was stabbed to death, his 
companions having abandoned him and ridden away. 

Despatches now reached South Africa announcing 
that Sir Garnet VVolseley had been appointed com- 
mander-in-chief of the forces, high commissioner for 
South-Eastern Africa, and administrator of the 
territories bordering on the seat of war. Lord 
Chelmsford was at the time just completing his 
arrangements for an advance upon Ulundi. It 
seemed as if he was to be deprived of the satisfaction 
of bringing the war to an end, and, as actually hap- 



BATTLE OF ULUNDI, 3OQ 

pened, Sir Garnet Wolseley arrived before the 4th of 
July, when Ulundi was reached and the final battle 
was fought ; but Lord Chelmsford was still in com- 
mand of the column. 

It is estimated that about ten thousand Zulu 
soldiers had been killed before the end of June. 
Some twenty thousand more had lost heart, as they 
had not succeeded in taking a single lager during the 
war, and they had consequently deserted and dispersed. 
With from fifteen to twenty thousand who were true 
to him still, Cetywayo awaited the British army at 
Ulundi. Lord Chelmsford formed his troops in a 
hollow square, upon which the Zulus dashed them- 
selves in vain. Beaten back by a terrible storm of 
bullets, and having no hope of breaking the British 
square by even the heaviest sacrifice, they turned to 
retire, when the cavalry was let loose upon them. 
They dispersed, never again to rally, and Cetywayo 
was a fugitive seeking only concealment. After 
Ulundi and the military kraals near it were burned, 
the army fell back upon its base of supplies, and Lord 
Chelmsford resigned his command. 

The war was over, the colonial volunteers were 
allowed to return home, and part of the large regular 
force in the field was sent to England, though until 
Cetywayo's person could be secured it was not con- 
sidered advisable to remove the whole of the troops 
from the country. The people — all honour to them 
for it — were so loyal to their chief that for many 
weeks not one could be found to betray him, though 
thousands must have been acquainted with his hiding 
places. At length, however, a man, who was threat- 



310 NATAL AND ZULULAND, 

ened with death if he did not divulge the secret, 
pointed out a secluded kraal on the border of a forest, 
and Cetywayo became a prisoner. 

No captive ever conducted himself more decorously 
than the fallen chief of the Zulus. He was sent a 
prisoner to Capetown, and, after a short confinement 
in the castle, had a small farm close to the one occu- 
pied by Langalibalele assigned to him as a residence. 
There he was attended by servants of his own choice, 
and was well cared for in every respect. 

Zululand was divided by Sir Garnet Wolseley into 
thirteen districts, each of which was placed under the 
government of a chief independent of all the others, 
and nominally guided by the advice of a single British 
resident. But this plan of settlement did not answer 
at all, and in 1883 Cetywayo was allowed to return. 
In the meantime he had visited England, where he 
was very well received, and by his sensible observa- 
tions and dignified deportment had acquired the 
favourable opinion of every one with whom he came 
in contact. It was thought that after the experience 
hx2 had gone through he might without imprudence 
be allowed to return to his own country, upon making 
a promise to observe conditions that would prevent 
his power from becoming dangerous again. 

Some of the people welcomed him back, but others 
adhered to a rival chief named Sibepu, who had found 
means to secure a large following. War at once 
broke out between them, and when Cetywayo died 
in the following year, it continued between his son 
Dinizulu and Sibepu. Dinizulu secured the aid of a 
body of farmers, in return for which he ceded to them 




1 .1^^ 



;:Mi i 



JliT 'li- : I 1 
fijlili. ':i 1 

i'i'iiiM'i, 1 I 

liiiiif "' 






ill '.'i' 







\t*m%v\ ^M'^h 



312 NATAL AND ZULU LAND. 

a large tract of land, which was afterwards united to 
the South African Republic, and is now known as 
the district of Vryheid. With their assistance he 
subdued his rival, but confusion and strife still 
continued, so that in 1887 what remained of the 
country was of necessity annexed to the British 
Empire. It was divided into six districts, and a 
European magistrate, supported by soldiers and 
police, now has charge of each. 

Not unnaturally Dinizulu objected to this arrange- 
ment, and he caused such disturbances against the 
English authority that order could not be maintained 
while he was in the country. He was therefore 
arrested, and in 1889, with two other chiefs, was 
sent to reside on the island of St. Helena, where he 
is still living. 

Zululand has not been annexed to Natal, but the 
governor of the one country is also governor of the 
other. Settlement by Europeans in the territory is 
not practicable to any large extent. 




XXV. 



THE ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 



The history of the world may be searched in vain 
for an instance of a community in a more unenviable 
position than the burghers of the territory between 
the Orange and Vaal rivers when they were aban- 
doned by Great Britain. They were scattered thinly 
over a great plain, and beside them in a mountain 
land like a strong fortress was a hostile tribe armed 
to the teeth, under the ablest chief in South Africa, 
exulting in its recent victory over a British army, 
and vastly exceeding them in number of combatants. 
To the poHcy of forming a powerful Basuto state 
they had been resolutely opposed, yet now they were 
made to bear the consequences of its creation. Their 
country was without roads or bridges, almost without 
churches and schools, so that these were to be pro- 
vided as well as the ordinary machinery of govern- 
ment, while they received no share of the customs 
duties on their trade levied in the ports of Natal and 
the Cape Colony. That they surmounted these 
difficulties and made their state one of the most 
flourishing in South Africa is something that they 
are justly proud of 



313 



314 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

The form of government that they adopted vfas 
repubHcan. There is a president, who is the prin- 
cipal executive officer, and who is elected by the 
burghers for a term of five years. He must carry 
out the resolutions of the volksraad, and has no veto 
upon its proceedings. He is assisted by an executive 
council. The volksraad is the supreme authority, 
and consists at present of fifty-six members, one for 
each fieldcornetcy and one for each seat of magis- 
tracy. They are elected for four years. The presi- 
dent and the state secretary have the right of debate, 
but not of voting, in the volksraad. All European 
males of full age born in the State are electors, and 
also all European immigrant males of full age who 
have become burghers and are in possession of 
unmortgaged landed property to the value of ^^150, 
or are lessees of landed property at a yearly rental 
of £s^y or are in receipt of a fixed yearly income of 
;£"200, or have been resident in the State for three 
years and possess movable property worth ^300. 
Men of coloured blood who live in all respects as 
Europeans may have the privilege to vote accorded 
to them by special resolution of the volksraad, and 
some of very dark tint living in the same way go to 
the polls unquestioned. But the principle is kept 
clearly in view that the government is to represent 
the civilised inhabitants of the country, and that those 
who are uncivilised can have no voice in its formation, 
though they are to be protected equally with electors 
and have the same right in courts of justice. 

The fundamental law of the State, like that of all 
other European communities in South Africa, is the 



PRESIDENTS HOFFMAN AND BOSHOF. 315 

Roman as modified by the legislature of Holland 
before 1652. The official language is Dutch, and the 
courts of law are after the Dutch pattern, though 
considerably modified. In each district there is a 
landdrost, with a body of heemraden to assist in 
settling important cases, and over all is a supreme 
court of judges, who must previously have been 
qualified barristers. 

When the British flag was withdrawn the com- 
munity was split into factions, but the common 
danger forced them to unite in choosing a president 
acceptable to Moshesh. Mr. Josias Hoffman, a 
farmer who was intimately acquainted with the great 
chief and on excellent terms with him, was therefore 
elected. During his short tenure of office, however, 
the burghers felt that concession to the Basuto power 
was carried further than was consistent with the 
dignity of an independent state, and early in 1855 
the volksraad took advantage of his having made a 
present of a keg of gunpowder to Moshesh without 
reporting the circumstance and clamoured so loudly 
against him that he was compelled to resign. 

Mr. Jacobus Nicolaas Boshof, a man of education, 
of high moral character, and of considerable ability, 
was then elected president. Having had a training 
in official work in the civil service of the Cape Colony, 
he was able to put the different departments of the 
government in good order. But from the day of his 
assuming duty he was so incessantly harassed by 
the all-important question with Moshesh that he 
could do little or nothing else for the general welfare 
of the country. 



3l6 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND, 

Moshesh's object, from a Bantu point of view, was 
so praiseworthy that his followers were ready to do 
everything in their power to promote it. He wished 
to recover for his tribe the whole of the territory 
south of the Vaal and west of the Drakensberg that 
had been in occupation of black people before the 
wars of Tshaka. The remnants of the tribes that in 
olden times had occupied the ground were now his 
followers, and he wanted the soil that once was theirs. 
Sir George Napier had given him by treaty a large 
portion of it, and that much, at any rate, he was 
determined to have. 

The object of the Free State government and 
burghers was to retain the boundary fixed by Sir 
Harry Smith, which, in their opinion, was a fair one. 
When white people moved into the territory it was a 
vast waste, and if they had not come Moshesh could 
never have had a quarter of the land that was now in 
his possession. Certainly Bantu had at some former 
period occupied ground nearly as far west as Bloem- 
fontein, but they had irrecoverably lost it during the 
Zulu wars. To admit Moshesh's claim would be to 
consent to the annihilation of the State, and the 
burghers had no mind for that. Here, in brief, was 
the cause of the long and desperate struggle between 
the Orange Free State and the Basuto tribe. 

For several years Moshesh directed his efforts 
towards the south, leaving the farmers on his other 
borders undisturbed. In that direction the herds oi 
the white people were plundered mercilessly by his 
followers, and as a rule he would give no redress. 
Sir George Grey once tried to arrange matters 



SECOND BASUTO WAR. 317 

amicably between the two parties, and through his 
agency an agreement of peace and friendship was 
signed ; but Moshesh did not long observe it. At 
length actual possession of occupied farms was taken 
by parties of armed Basuto, and hostilities could be 
staved off no longer. 

In March 1858 the burghers of all parts of the 
State were called out, and entered Basutoland in two 
divisions, the object being to try to confine the war 
to the enemy's country. But Moshesh was much too 
skilful a strategist for their commanders to cope with. 
He kept them closely occupied until after some 
severe fighting they arrived in front of Thaba Bosigo, 
where they learned that swarms of his light horsemen 
were ravaging their farms. Before them was a moun- 
tain stronghold which could not be taken by storm, 
and they had not the means of laying siege to it. 
Under these circumstances the burghers dispersed, 
and made the best of their way to the localities where 
they had left their families. 

President Boshof had already applied to the South 
African Republic for aid, but as the burghers of the 
northern state were holding out for special terms of 
union, and there was no time to be lost, he requested 
the mediation of Sir George Grey. Moshesh con- 
sented to an armistice, and promised to abide by the 
decision of the governor. He was wise enough to 
recognise that if he pushed his advantage too far he 
would have to deal with the northern republic as 
well as the southern, and he felt certain that the 
governor would give him, as the conqueror, a good 
strip of territory. 



jlS ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

Sir George Grey accepted the office of mediator. 
He took from Moshesh a far outlying mission station 
which was a kind of semi-independent fief of the 
Basuto chieftainship, but gave him a large extent of 
territory south of Sir Harry Smith's Hne. Thus the 
first struggle with the Basuto ended in very serious 
loss to the Orange Free State. 

Shortly after this Mr. Boshof resigned, and was 
succeeded as president by Mr. Marthinus Wessel 
Pretorius, son of the famous commandant-general. 
He represented a strong party that desired the union 
ot the two republics, but as there were many con- 
flicting interests in the way, besides the declaration 
of the high commissioner that union would dissolve 
the conventions with Great Britain, every attempt at 
amalgamation failed 

During these years the Free State was continually 
growing stronger. The Griqua captain Adam Kok 
sold his territorial rights to the republic, his people 
sold their ground to farmers from the Cape Colony, 
and then the whole clan moved away to a new 
country below the Dralvcnsberg and south of Natal, 
given to them by Sir George Grey. With the excep- 
tion of a little tract of almost unoccupied land 
belonging to the Griqua captain Nicholas Waterboer 
between the Modder and Orange rivers and a loca- 
tion belonging to the Barolong chief Moroko, the 
whole territory between the Vaal and the Orange up 
to the Basuto border was now in possession of white 
people, and sheep farming and cattle rearing could be 
carried on in a large portion of it with greater profit 
than in any other pan of South Africa. 



CONDUCT OF AlOSHESH. 



319 



Along the Basuto border, however, there was a 
continual state of unrest. Moshesh had conquered 
the clans on the northern bank of the Caledon, and 
had annexed their ground. The white people main- 
tained that the boundary should remain as before, 
but the chief said contemptuously that he had never 




PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT BRAND. 

agreed to it, and he showed clearly that he would 
not respect it President Pretorius did all that was 
possible to induce him to act fairly in the matter, but 
in vain. His people pressed across the line, settled 
on farms, and plundered the country for miles in 
front of them. 

In 1865 Advocate Jan Hendrik Brand was elected 



320 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

president. Of him it may be said that South Africa 
knows no worthier name, for no one has ever con- 
tributed more to the welfare of the people than he. 
Sir Philip Wodehouse had succeeded Sir George 
Grey as governor of the Cape Colony and her 
Majesty's high commissioner for the regions be}'ond. 
President Brand requested him to mark off the 
northern boundary between the Free State and 
Basutoland, and the volksraad empowered him to 
alter Sir Harry Smith's line if he saw fit to do so, 
as they were willing to lose some ground if only they 
could secure peace. Sir Philip was no lover of 
republics, and he never concealed his dislike of the 
South African farmers ; but in a matter of this kind 
he could be depended upon to act with the strictest 
justice. Moshesh very reluctantly agreed to abide 
by his decision. He visited the country, carefully 
inspected it, heard the arguments on both sides, and 
after much consideration confirmed Sir Harry Smith's 
line. The president then called upon Moshesh to 
withdraw his followers from the farms they had taken 
possession of, and upon the chief's failure to do so, 
the burghers were called out to drive them back by 
force, when open war began. 

The laying waste of a large extent of territory in 
the Free State by Basuto horsemen could not be 
prevented, and a number of people were massacred 
in a shocking manner ; but, on the other hand, the 
burgher forces were victorious in several engagements 
and took some mountain strongholds by storm. 
Thaba Bosigo, however, resisted every attack upon 
it. After ten months' fighting Moshesh asked for 



PRESIDENT BRAND AND MOSHESH. 331 

peace, and offered to cede a considerable part of his 
country, but a year later he declared that he had only 
done so in order to secure a harvest. The president 
and the burghers were deceived, and in April 1866 
terms were agreed to and a treaty ot peace was 
signed. 

His gardens were planted, and when his harvests 
were gathered Moshesh threw off the mask. He 
declined to fulfil the terms of the treaty, and in July 
1867, President Brand was obliged to call the burghers 
again to arms to compel him to observe his engage- 
ments. Both sides recognised that the struggle must 
now be a final one, and each put forth its utmost 
strength. But Moshesh no longer possessed the 
mental vigour of his earlier years, and in his tribe 
there was no one who could take his place as a 
strategist. His sons were mere ordinary barbarians. 
Soon fragments of the tribe began to drop off and 
move over the Drakensberg. Then one after another 
all the Basuto strongholds fell, except Thaba Bosigo, 
Moshesh's own mountain, which defied attack. The 
granaries were destroyed, and the bulk of the tribe, 
driven into the mountains, was suffering severely 
from hunger and disease. 

The Free State was in a fair way of being able 
very shortly to dictate its own terms when Sir Philip 
Wodehouse interfered. At Moshesh's request he 
proclaimed the Basuto tribe British subjcct<=, and 
sent an armed force to protect them. British 
interests, he declared, would not permit of their 
being dispersed over the country as fugitives. 
Naturally the people of the Free State regarded 

22 



322 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

this action as unfriendly and unfair, and the volksraad 
sent deputies to England to protest against it ; but 
the imperial authorities left the matter entirely in the 
governor's hands. The president then tried to 
secure as good terms as possible, and in February 
1869 an agreement was concluded by which the Free 
State obtained all the land north and west of the 
Caledon and south of a line almost identical with 
that of Sir Harry Smith between the Caledon and 
the Orange. 

The republic sorely needed rest when the struggle 
with the Basuto was over, though it was less 
exhausted than its opponent Paper money had 
been issued to a large amount, and the notes were 
greatly depreciated in value. Farming operations 
had been neglected, and individuals as well as the 
state had been compelled to incur heavy debts. 
There was hardly a homestead in the land which did 
not bear evidence that a crisis of no ordinary nature 
had been experienced. The loss of life too had been 
heavy in proportion to the population. But the 
hearts of the people beat high, and government and 
burghers alike set to work resolutely to repair their 
losses 

A little before this date a discovery was made that 
created a perfect revolution in South African life. 
One day in 1867 a child on a farm in the north of 
the Cape Colony was observed to be playing with 
a remarkably brilliant pebble, which a trader, to 
whom it was shown as a curiosity, suspected to be 
a gem of value. It was sent for examination to a 
qualified person in Grahamstown, who reported that 



DISCOVERY OF DIAMONDS. 323 

it was a diamond of twenty-one carats weight, and 
that its value was ^^500. Search was immediately 
commenced in the neighbourhood by several persons 
in odd hours, and soon another, though much smaller, 
was found. Then a third was picked up on the bank 
of the Vaal river, and attention was directed to that 
locality. 

During 1868 several were found, though as yet no 
one was applying himself solely to looking for them. 
In March 1869 the Star of South Africa was 
obtained from a Korana Hottentot, who had been 
in possession of it for a long time without the least 
idea of its value except as a powerful charm. It was 
a magnificent brilliant of eighty-three carats weight 
when uncut, and was readily sold for ;^i 1,000. From 
all parts of South Africa men now began to make 
their way to the banks of the lower Vaal to search 
for diamonds, and trains of waggons conveying pro- 
visions and goods were to be seen on every highway 
to the interior. Some of the diggers were fortunate 
in amassing wealth, but this was by no means the 
case with all. Diamond digging, in fact, was like 
a great lottery, with a few prizes and many blanks. 
But it had a powerful attraction, and shortly many 
hundreds of adventurers from Europe and America 
were also engaged in it. 

The quiet, simple, homely life of the South African 
farm and village in olden times — rarely disturbed 
except by wars with Bantu tribes — had passed away 
for ever, and a bustling, struggling, restless mode of 
existence was rapidly taking its place. The wealth 
of the country was enormously increased, for dia- 



324 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

monds soon attained a high place in the exports ; 
but it may be questioned if the people are on the 
whole as happy as they were before. 

The southern bank of the lower Vaal was Free 
State territory, but the ownership of the northern 
bank was disputed. Before the discovery of diamonds 
it was regarded as of so little value that no actual 
government existed there, though the South African 
Republic, the Orange Free State, the Batlapin tribe, 
and the Griqua captain Nicholas Waterboer, all 
claimed the ground. The consequence was that each 
mining camp on that side of the stream formed a 
kind of government for itself, and a great deal of 
confusion and lawlessness was the result. 

After a while much richer diamond mines than 
those along the Vaal were discovered on some farms 
to the southward, and most of the diggers removed 
to them. The public offices of the district in which 
they were situated were at a considerable distance, but 
as soon as arrangements could be made by the govern- 
ment, a resident landdrost was appointed, a post-office 
was established, and some policemen were engaged. 

In the minds of people at a distance the various 
camps were confused with each other, and all were 
supposed to be in the lawless condition of those north 
of the Vaal. Most of the diggers were British 
subjects, so that her Majesty's high commissioner 
considered it his duty to interfere in the interests of 
order. At that time one of the shrewdest men in 
South Africa was agent for the Griqua captain 
Nicholas Waterboer, and on behalf of his client had 
laid claim to a large part of the Orange Free State, 



ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 325 

including the locality in which the diamond mines 
were situated. No pretension could be more shadowy, 
but when Mr. Arnot, on behalf of Waterboer, offered 
the territory to the British government, it came to be 
regarded, on one side at least, as having some real 
foundation. 

The high commissioner proposed arbitration, 
which President Brand declined. The territory which 
Mr. Arnot claimed south of the Vaal, he said, had 
been part of the Free State ever since the convention 
of 1854. Before that date it had been part of the 
Orange River Sovereignty, and some of the farms 
in it were held under British titles issued at that 
time. Nicholas Waterboer and his people lived far 
away, and, as well as could be ascertained, had never 
occupied ground there. Under these circumstances 
he would not admit that there could be any question 
of ownership. The right of the state to land beyond 
the Vaal, however, he was willing to submit to 
arbitration, as it had been acquired by purchase, and 
the seller's title might be open to doubt. 

While the high commissioner and the president 
were corresponding on this subject, Mr. Marthinus 
Wessel Pretorius, who was then president of the 
South African Republic, agreed to submit some 
disputes between that country and the Barolong, 
Batlapin, and Griquas, to arbitration, in consequence 
of which a court was appointed, with Mr. Keate, 
governor of Natal, as final umpire, and proceedings 
were opened at the little village of Bloemhof, on the 
northern bank of the Vaal. The Free State govern- 
ment was not represented in the court. 



326 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

The interests involved were greater than were 
recognised at the time. It was supposed that the 
sovereignty of some of the diamond mines was the 
great question at issue ; now it is seen that access by 
Great Britain to the distant interior was also involved. 
On one side the proceedings were a perfect farce. 
President Pretorius and his attorney did nothing 
whatever to work up their case ; they did not attempt 
to meet evidence that might have been disproved 
with the greatest ease ; they even put in a spurious 
document given to them by one of their opponents 
purposely to befool them. On the other side was 
Mr. Arnot, who knew exactly what to withhold as 
well as what to bring forward. The result was that 
Mr. Keate, acting solely on the evidence before him, 
gave judgment against the South African Republic, 
and in defining the territories of the disputants 
included within Nicholas Waterboer's boundary the 
part of the Free State which that captain claimed. 

As soon as the Keate award was issued — October, 
1 87 1 — Sir Henry Barkly, who was then high 
commissioner, proclaimed Waterboer's country a 
British dependency, with boundaries enclosing the 
mines along the Vaal, and at Dutoitspan, De Beer's, 
and Kimberley. An armed force was sent to take 
possession of it, and the Free State officials withdrew 
under protest. The territory, which was named 
Griqualand West, then became a crown colony. It 
remained in that condition until 1880, when it was 
annexed to the Cape Colony, of which it now forms 
part. 

Some time after Griqualand West came under the 



PRESIDENT brand's VISIT TO ENGLAND. 327 

British flag, a special court was created to decide 
upon conflicting claims to ground. For many weeks 
evidence was taken, and the most minute research 
was made into the history of the land and its people. 
When at length judgment was given, all claims within 
the diamond mining area that rested on grants by 
Waterboer were thrown out, because that captain 
never had any rights there. 

President Brand then went to England and laid 
his case before the Imperial authorities. In brief it 
was this — that Great Britain had taken the land from 
the Free State under pretence that it belonged to 
Waterboer, and that a British court, after careful 
examination, had since decided that Waterboer had 
no right to it. The reply which he received was to 
the effect that it was a necessity for the paramount 
power in South Africa to be in possession of the 
diamond mines, but he would receive ;^90,000 from 
Griqualand West as a solatium. 

The president wisely accepted the offer, and with 
the money reduced the public debt of the state. 
The sore feeling entertained by the burghers passed 
away, and they began to reflect that perhaps after all 
it was better for them to be relieved of the respon- 
sibility of maintaining order among the diggers. A 
diamond mine at Jagersfontein had been left to them, 
and it was turning out much richer than had once 
been anticipated. Then they had all the advantages 
which the other mines offered as markets for farm 
produce, so that they might have a good deal of gain 
with no risk. 

Since this settlement the Free State has enjoyed 



328 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

constant peace. Roads, bridges, and good public 
buildings have been constructed, and an excellent 
system of public schools is maintained by the govern- 
ment. The railway from Capetown to Pretoria, in 
the South African Republic, passes through the state, 
and there are lines to Port Elizabeth and East Lon- 
don. From Harrismith there is a line to Durban. 
These were taken over by the government in January, 
1897, and others are being constructed. The Free 
State is without a public debt, except for the pur- 
chase of the railways. Its boundaries on every side 
are undisputed, and it has no semi-independent clans 
within its borders. Tfie Barolong of Moroko, the 
last who were in that condition, came completely 
under the government after a feud in which the chief 
was killed by one of his brothers. The Cape Colony, 
the Orange Free State, and the smaller British de- 
pendencies in South Africa, except Natal, forms a 
customs union. 

President Brand was elected again and again until 
1888, when he died in office. Mr. F. W. Reitz, 
previously chief justice, was then chosen to fill the 
vacant place. Owing to ill health he retired in 1895, 
and early in 1896 was succeeded by Mr. M. T. Steyn. 
According to the census of 1890 the population con- 
sists of seventy-eight thousand Europeans and one 
hundred and thirty thousand coloured people. The 
industries of the state are almost entirely pastoral 
and agricultural, but there are valuable coal fields 
which are beginning to be worked, and there are 
diamond mines at Jagersfontein and Koffyfontein : 
the last-named, however, not being of great im- 
portance. 



330 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 

When Basutoland was taken over as a British 
possession, an agent was appointed by the high 
commissioner, who, with a few magistrates and some 
police, guided rather than governed the tribe. 
]\Ioshesh died soon afterwards, and his principal 
heir, Letsie by name, had none of the old chief's 
ability. Molapo and Masupha, two other sons, were 
at the head of considerable sections of the tribe. All 
were unwilling to part with any real authority over 
the people, and gave just sufficient obedience to the 
British officials to ensure protection, but carefully 
avoided conceding more. 

In 1 87 1 the territory was attached to the Cape 
Colony, which thus became responsible for the 
preservation of order within it. The system of 
administration continued as before. Bantu law was 
recognised, except in a few of its worst features, 
but it was intended gradually to assimilate it to the 
law of the colony. Sufficient hut-tax was easily 
collected to cover the cost of administration and 
to leave a small amount for public works, besides 
providing for liberal allowances to the chiefs. 

In a short time the tribe recovered from its losses 
in property, and increased in number as only Bantu 
can in a period of peace. Europeans believed that 
the British officials were gaining control over the 
people, and that the power of the chiefs was waning ; 
but it was soon to be proved how little foundation 
there was for such a belief In 1877 a wave of 
disturbance began to pass along the Bantu tribes 
connected with the Cape Colony, and when it sub- 
sided the government resolved upon a general dis- 



BASUTOLAND. 331 

armament. As soon as the measure was applied 
to Basutoland, the people rose in rebellion. Some 
clans, indeed, professed to be loyal, but only because 
others with whom they were at feud were on the 
opposite side. The colony spent a vast amount of 
treasure in trying to reduce the rebels to submission, 
but failed in the attempt, and the end was that in 
1884 Basutoland was transferred back to the imperial 
government. 

The country since that date has been nominally 
under the direction of a British administrator, with 
magistrates to assist him ; and these officers appear 
to have some moral influence, though the people 
obey only when it pleases them. Letsie died 
recently, and was succeeded by his son Lerothodi, 
who is now the actual ruler of the tribe. 

Basutoland contains at present about two hundred 
and twenty-five thousand Bantu, and six hundred 
Europeans. The white people are officials, mission- 
aries, or traders. No others are permitted to settle 
in the country. 




XXVI. 



THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 



The vast tract of land north of the Vaal, that 
became the property of the emigrant farmers after 
the expulsion of Moselekatse, contained ground suit- 
able for almost every variety of agricultural and 
pastoral industry, and, though the circumstance was 
then unknown, in mineral wealth it is not surpassed 
by any country in the world. Its eastern and 
northern valleys, well watered and of great fertility, 
had for a time a strong attraction for settlers, but 
experience proved them to be less healthy than the 
open highlands, and they were therefore partly aban- 
doned. In some places the tsetse fly abounded, and 
this scourge of domestic cattle prevented settlement 
in its neighbourhood until the large game was ex- 
terminated, when it disappeared. The fev^er too, 
that was once so prevalent on the borders of forests 
and streams in the lowlands, in course of time became 
almost unknown in the same localities if the ground 
was cultivated and the rank grass burnt off before it 
began to decay. 

The farmers were only fifteen or sixteen thousand 
332 



LAWLESSNESS. 333 

in number, all told, so tbey naturally selected what 
appeared to them the choicest spots, and no one 
considered it worth his while to settle on the great 
plains of the west. There was no such thing as 
union among them. An attempt was made to form 
a kind of common government, by the election of a 
single volksraad for legislative purposes, but with 
four executive heads, one for each of the principal 
factions. This system, as may be imagined, was 
accompanied by much disorder, and was soon suc- 
ceeded by four republics, independent of each 
other : Potchefstroom, Zoutpansberg, Lydenburg, 
and Utrecht. Matters were not mended by this 
arrangement, and it may almost be said that the 
white people beyond the Vaal were without govern- 
ment at all. 

A notable evil that resulted from this condition of 
things was that the outskirts of the occupied area 
offered a refuge to vagabonds of every stamp, who 
resorted to them from other parts of South Africa. 
Men capable of the most abominable cruelty and 
meanness, but possessing the quality of brute courage, 
roamed along the frontier nominally as hunters and 
traders, and their lawless deeds were attributed by 
people at a distance to the whole community. 

When Europeans first entered the country, it was 
in a similar condition to Mashonaland in 1890. 
North and west, as far as it was known, the native 
tribes had been destroyed by the Matabele, and only 
a few wretched remnants were living either along 
the margin of the Kalahari desert or among almost 
inaccessible mountains. The greater portion of the 



334 ^^^ SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 

territory south of the twenty-second parallel of lati- 
tude was literally without inhabitants, for Mosele- 
katse's bands were in the habit of traversing it yearly 
in one direction or other, and no clan could live in 
their way. The arrival of the white people and the 
flight of the Matabele gave new life to the dwellers 
in the mountains and deserts. They could come 
out into the open country once more, and make 
gardens and sleep in safety. The Europeans were 
masters and owners of the land, but in accordance 
with the ancient Dutch custom, they permitted each 
little Bantu community to be governed by its own 
chief in all matters that did not affect the ruling 
race. 

The kraals were made subject to a labour tax, and 
under a strong government no better tax could be 
imposed upon a barbarous people. But under the 
weak rule of the emigrant farmers the system was 
liable to great abuses, though the Bantu thought 
lightly of it until the dread of the Matabele was 
forgotten. Life was now safe, and the occupants of 
the kraals were multiplying at a prodigious rate, 
besides which fugitives were coming in from the 
regions beyond the Limpopo, where Moselekatse 
was lord. 

Ten years passed away, and the clans had become 
so strong that they began to chafe under the re- 
straints imposed upon them by the white men and 
to aspire to independence. The anarchy and strife 
among the Europeans appeared to give them the 
opportunity they wanted. But among themselves 
also there was the remembrance of ancient feuds, 



DR. LIVINGSTONE. 335 

which caused so much jealousy that combination was 
impossible, and instead of rising altogether, it was in 
succession that the most disaffected among them 
took up arms. Then, too, as will be seen on a 
much more memorable occasion at a later date, in 
presence of an opponent the farmers stood shoulder 
to shoulder, and were therefore able to suppress the 
various risings against their authority. 

These disturbances were brought prominently to 
the notice of the English people by the reverend 
Dr. Livingstone, the greatest explorer of modern 
times, who was then a missionary with the Bakwena 
under the chief Setyeli, and whose house and furni- 
ture were destroyed during the war. Dr. Livingstone 
was a strong partisan of the Bantu, and did his 
utmost to oppose the claim of the emigrant farmers 
to dominion over the clan with which he was living, 
so that his statements are those of an advocate 
rather than those of a judge. He represented Setyeli 
as wholly in the right, and the farmers as wholly in 
the wrong : but any impartial writer who examines 
Setyeli's own account of the matter, as given by 
himself personally to the governor in Capetown, 
must come to a different conclusion. 

War cannot be carried on without cruelty, but in 
these contests acts were sometimes performed by the 
Europeans which exceeded the limit regarded as 
permissible by civilised nations. It should be re- 
membered, however, that the provocation on such 
occasions was very great, as, for instance, when 
white women and children were murdered in cold 
blood, or when corpses were mutilated, or captives 



33^ THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 

put to death by torture. Men belonging to the most 
refined circles in Europe would probably retaliate 
under such circumstances as cruelly as the emigrant 
farmers did. 

Early in 1857 the Potchefstroom faction adopted 
a new constitution, under which Mr. Marthinus 
Wessel Pretorius became president, though with no 
other power than to carry out the resolutions of the 
volksraad. In the following year Zoutpansberg gave 
in its adhesion to this constitution, and, in i860, 
Lydenburg and Utrecht, previously united, were also 
incorporated, so that the whole country north of 
the Vaal became a single republic. The different 
factions now began to strive for the supreme power 
in the state, and a civil war broke out, in which 
some blood was shed. Peace was restored in May, 
1S64, when Mr. Pretorius was accepted by all 
parties as the legally elected president, and Mr. S. 
J. Paul Kruger as commandant-general or military 
head. 

Meantime the Baramapulana tribe, which was 
living in a mountainous tract of land in the north 
of the republic, had become very strong in number, 
owing to an influx of broken clans from beyond the 
Limpopo. It was in possession of a good many 
guns, procured from the vagabond whites in the 
neighbourhood, and was disposed to resent any inter- 
ference with its actions. In a feud a brother of the 
chief was obliged to flee, and was protected by the 
Government, a circumstance which greatly annoyed 
his opponents. In April 1865, when searching for a 
fugitive offender, some of the lawless Europeans and 



WAR WITH THE BARAMAPULANA. 337 

a party of blacks who were assisting them committed 
acts of great violence upon the outposts of the tribe, 
and a general war was brought on. 

For more than three years the republic strove in 
vain to subdue the Baramapulana. There was no 
money in the treasury, and the government was 
actually at one time unable to raise funds sufficient 
to pay for the carriage of ammunition from Durban. 
The burghers of the southern part of the state re- 
fused to take part in the war. Commandant-General 
Kruger did all that man could do with the slender 
means at his disposal, but he was at length obliged 
to withdraw discomfited. The village of Schoe- 
mansdal, the centre of the ivory trade and the 
residence of a landdrost and a clergyman, was 
abandoned by its inhabitants when the feeble com- 
mando retired, and was afterwards burnt by the 
enemy.' The Europeans were obliged for their 
safety to withdraw from a large part of the district 
of Zoutpansberg, to which they were never able to 
return. The Baramapulana, however, felt the want 
of commercial intercourse, and in July 1868 ex- 
pressed a desire for a renewal of friendship, at the 
same time offering to pay tribute, when peace was 
gladly made on conditions which by no means 
secured the absolute supremacy of the republican 
government. 

The white people had thus lost ground, and the 
fact of their having done so made it more difficult 
than before to preserve order among the Bantu 
farther south. In one respect only the country 
showed si;^ns of progress : in the number of churches 

23 



338 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 

built and clergymen engaged. Yet even in religious 
matters there was constant strife among the sections 
of what outsiders can only regard as one church, so 
trifling are the differences that break it into distinct 
communions. A generation had grown up without a 
knowledge of books or of events beyond their own 
little circle. The rivers were unbridged, there were 
no public offices worthy of the name, the treasury 
was always empty, and the salaries of the officials, 
trifling as they were, could seldom or never be paid 
ivhen they fell due. Commerce was carried on chiefly 
by means of barter, as gold and silver were exceeding 
scarce. Still on the farms anything like want was 
unknown, for the flocks and herds throve and in- 
creased in the rich pastures, and the fertile soil 
produced grain and vegetables and fruit in abun- 
dance. 

The war with the Baramapulana was hardly con- 
cluded when fresh difficulties arose through the 
Barolong of Montsiw^a and other clans on the west 
setting up a claim to independence and to the 
possession of a territory of immense extent. The 
republic was not in a position to assert its authority 
by force of arms, and indeed the matter was hardly 
considered worth much notice until the discovery 
of diamonds along the lower Vaal gave importance 
to the claim. Then President Pretorius and her 
Majesty's high commissioner for South Africa 
arranged that it should be settled by arbitration, 
and each party appointed a representative to form 
a court, with Governor Keate, of Natal, as final 
umpire. The manner in which the case for the 



PRESIDENT BURGERS. 339 

republic was conducted has been related in the 
preceding chapter. Governor Keate's award gave 
to the tribes the independence and the territory 
that they claimed, and even took from the govern- 
ment at Pretoria a large district that had been 
occupied by white people ever since the great 
emigration. 

As soon as the award was known President 
Pretorius was obliged to resign, for the volksraad 
maintained that he had exceeded his authority in 
making the agreement with the high commissioner, 
and declared that they were not bound by his action. 
The high commissioner, however, announced that he 
would enforce the award, though he did not take 
possession of the territory cut off from the republic 
by it. And now there was a general cry that a 
clever man, capable of conducting business on equal 
terms with the queen's representative in Capetown, 
must be found to fill the office of president. The 
reverend Thomas Frangois Burgers, a clergyman who 
had abandoned the orthodox church and whose name 
was then prominently before the public on account of 
the skilful manner in which he had conducted some 
difficult cases in the law courts of the Cape Colony, 
seemed to possess the requisite ability, and he was 
elected by a nearly unanimous vote. 

Mr. Burgers was an able and an active man, with 
large persuasive powers, but he was a dreamer. He 
dreamed of a powerful and prosperous republic, with 
colleges and telegraphs and railways, with a high 
name among the nations of the earth; and he 
imagined that it could be formed off-hand out of 



340 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 

a few thousand uneducated men with seventeenth- 
century ideas and such immigrants as he could 
induce to join him from Holland. Two years after 
his election he induced the volksraad to send him 
to Europe to negotiate a loan for the purpose of 
constructing a railway from Pretoria to Delagoa Bay 
and to engage teachers for a number of state 
schools. 

In Holland ;^90,ooo was subscribed towards the 
loan, and with the money railway material was 
purchased and sent out to rust and rot away at 
Lourengo Marques, for no more could be borrowed. 
A superintendent-general of education and a few 
other officials were engaged, with whom the president 
returned to Pretoria, to find that during his absence 
the Bapedi tribe, under the chief Sekukuni, that 
occupied a wild and rugged tract of land in the 
valley of the Olifants river, had acted in a manner 
that no government could tolerate. 

A large commando was called out to punish the 
insurgents, but the burghers assembled in fear and 
trembling. The president was to lead 4t in person, 
and as he was in religion an agnostic, they — with 
their thorough orthodox creed — feared much that the 
blessing of God could not rest upon the enterprise. 
So strong had this feeling become throughout the 
country that a large number of families, rather than 
remain under his government, were moving away to 
seek a new home beyond the Kalahari desert, and 
were even then marking the road toMossamedes in 
the Portuguese province of Benguela, where they 
ultimately settled, with a line of graves showing the 



REBELLION OF THE BAPEDI. 341 

terrible sufferings of their march. The passionate 
feeling at the time of his election had passed away, 
and hardly anything was now remembered except the 
failure of many of his plans. 

One strong place was taken, which the president in 
overdrawn language wrote of as the Gibraltar of the 
south, but this success did not give heart to the 
farmers. An attempt to take another stronghold 
failed, chiefly owing to the conduct of the burghers 
themselves, and then there was a perfect stampede 
homeward, which all the efforts of Mr. Burgers could 
not prevent. Some days later the fugitives reached 
Pretoria, and no hope of suppressing the rebellion 
speedily was left. 

The volksraad was hastily convened, when it was 
resolved to engage men wherever they could be 
obtained, at £$ a month, rations, and a farm of four 
thousand acres when the disturbance was quelled. 
To meet the expense heavy war taxes were imposed. 

But the country was quite unable to bear this 
strain. The ordinary charges of government and 
the interest- on the public debt could not be met, 
much less an additional burden. And so the whole 
administrative machinery broke down. The republic 
was really in a pitiable state, without money or an 
army, with rebellion triumphant, and a general 
election approaching that was feared might be 
attended with civil war. 

While things were in this condition Sir Theophilus 
Shepstone, previously secretary for native affairs in 
Natal, was sent by the British government as a com- 
missioner to Pretoria with very large powers. It is 



342 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 

admitted by every one that a country is entitled to 
interfere with a neighbour whose weakness is a cause 
of common peril ; but whether Great Britain was 
justified in this instance in taking possession of the 
South African Republic is a question upon which 
opinions differ. One of the reasons assigned by 
Sir Theophilus Shepstone for the action which he 
took was that the territory was in danger of being 
overrun by the Zulus, and if that was really so, the 
circumstance would go a long way to support his 
proceedings. But the farmers never expressed a fear 
of such a danger, and always alleged that they could 
repel Cetywayo's armies much more easily than 
besiege a fortified mountain stronghold. The Zulu 
chief at the time was trying to play off the republic 
against Natal, and his declarations to one party 
concerning the other cannot be regarded as evidence, 
though the British commissioner seems to have 
attached much value to them. Further than this, 
the residents of the villages, who were principally 
English and Germans, requested the commissioner 
to declare the country a British dependency, as the 
only remedy against anarchy, and the farmers did 
nothing to oppose him and his slender escort. The 
government managed to patch up a kind of peace 
with Sekukuni, but otherwise matters remained in 
the condition described until the I2th of April 1877, 
when Sir Theophilus Shepstone issued a proclamation 
declaring the country a British possession, and there- 
upon assumed supreme control, the president retiring 
under protest. 

A considerable military force now entered the 



BRITISH RULE. 343 

Transvaal territory, as the country was re- named, and 
apparently the new government was firmly established. 
Trade revived, money flovv^ed in, and property of every 
kind increased in value. But the farmers were dis- 
satisfied with the loss of their independence, and sent 
Mr. Paul Kruger and Dr. Jorissen to England to 
endeavour to get the annexation withdrawn. The 
deputation failed in its purpose, and at that time the 
British ministry appear to have believed that a large 
proportion of the people of the territory — if not the 
majority — were in favour of English rule. As a proof 
that this was not the case, memorials were sent round 
against the annexation, and received the signatures of 
over six thousand five hundred individuals, represent- 
ing practically the whole rural population. Another 
deputation, consisting of Messrs. Paul Kruger and 
Pieter Joubert, with Mr. Eduard Bok as secretary, 
was now sent to England, in hope that with so strong 
an argument in its favour it would meet with success. 
But it returned disappointed, and thereafter repeated 
declarations were made by the highest officials in 
South Africa that under no circumstances would the 
British flag be withdrawn from the Transvaal. 

Sir Theophilus Shepstone was personally not dis- 
liked, and if any one could have made the farmers 
contented under English rule he would have done it. 
But in March 1879 he was succeeded as adminis- 
trator by Sir Owen Lanyon, a man of haughty dis- 
position, who was incapable of even attempting to 
conciliate the people of the country. The feeling now 
rapidly gained ground that if peaceable means to 
obtain the restoration of independence did not soon 



344 '^^^^ SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 

succeed, an appeal to arms ought to be made. The 
women of South Africa have always had great 
influence in public affairs, and on this occasion their 
voice was decidedly in favour of war. Mothers en- 
couraged their sons, wives their husbands, to act as 
men, and if they were beaten they could die the 
death of patriots or move away to the unknown north 
as their fathers had done before them. 

At this time Sekukuni again gave trouble, but 
Sir Garnet Wolseley with a strong body of troops 
and a band of Swazis marched against him, in- 
flicted great damage upon his tribe, and brought the 
chief himself a prisoner to Pretoria. Shortly after 
this event intelligence reached the country that 
Mr. Gladstone had succeeded the earl of Beacons- 
field as prime minister of England, and as the new 
premier when in opposition had denounced the 
annexation as unjust, the farmers not unnaturally 
thought that he would give them back their inde- 
pendence. For a while therefore the agitation almost 
ceased. Some of the troops were withdrawn from 
the territory, and Sir Garnet Wolseley, having been 
relieved as commmder-in-chief by Sir George Colley, 
returned to Europe. 

As soon as it was known, however, that Mr. 
Gladstone declined to withdraw the British flag, the 
general discontent came to a head. An atte-npt to 
seize the waggon of a farmer who refused to pay 
a tax brought a number ot his friends to the rescue, 
and the officials at Potchefstroom, though supported 
by a strong military torce, were openly set at defiance. 
A great meeting took place at Paardekraal, where 



STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 345 

Krugersdorp now stands, and after several days' dis- 
cussion it was resolved to commit their cause to the 
Almighty God and live or die together in a struggle 
for independence. Messrs. S, J. Paul Kruger, M. W. 
Pretorius, and Pieter J. Joubert were elected a 
triumvirate to conduct the government, and the 
volksraad resumed its functions as the supreme 
legislative power. It was decided that Heidelberg 
should be the capital until Pretoria could be re- 
covered, and there, on Dingan's day, the i6th of 
December 1880, the flag of the republic was hoisted 
again. 

The act certainly proved that the European blood 
has not degenerated in courage by removal to South 
Africa, as many persons had previously assumed. 
And here it may be asked how it was that the same 
men who dared not face danger in the commando 
under President Burgers went through this war for 
independence with the bravery and devotion of 
ancient Spartans, yet afterwards claimed no glory 
for what they had done. The reply is short : religion 
caused the change. In one instance they believed 
that the Almighty was against them because their 
leader was not of the true faith, in the other they 
believed most thoroughly that the Almighty was 
with them, guiding and strengthening them in the 
unequal fight. It was this, and this alone, that 
turned the fugitives from Steelpoort into the men 
of Majuba hill. 

On the same day that the flag was hoisted the first 
blood was shed. A party of burghers, under Com- 
mandant Cronj^, went to Potchefstroom to have a 



346 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 

proclamation printed, and was fired upon by the 
soldiers there, when one of them was badly wounded. 
Colonel Winsloe, who was in command of the soldiers, 
had a camp outside the village, and had also fortified 
the landdrost's office and some adjoining buildings, 
in which a garrison was stationed under Major Clarke. 
Commandant Cronje returned the fire, and then laid 
siege to the buildings occupied by Major Clarke, who 
after holding out two days was obliged to surrender. 
Colonel Winsloe held the camp throughout the war, 
and only surrendered it after an armistice was entered 
into. 

Disaster after disaster now attended the British 
arms. 

Colonel Anstruther was directed to march from 
Lydenburg with two hundred and sixty-four men to 
reinforce the garrison of Pretoria, and was warned 
that he might meet with resistance on the way, but 
having a very poor opinion of the fighting powers of 
the farmers he took no precautions whatever. On 
the 20th of December he was marching carelessly 
with a long waggon train, when at Bronkhorst Spruit, 
thirty-eight miles from Pretoria, he suddenly found 
himself in front of a force of about the same number 
o[ farmers under Commandant Frans Joubert. The 
commandant demanded that he should proceed no 
farther, and upon his replying that he would go on, a 
volley was poured in by the farmers. The soldiers 
made a very feeble resistance, and in a few minutes 
so many were disabled that the colonel — who was 
himself mortally wounded — was obliged to surrender. 

From the garrisons in Natal Sir George Colley now 



BRITISH DISASTERS. 347 

collected a body of rather over a thousand men, and 
set out to assist the troops in the Transvaal, who with 
the loyalists were beleaguered in the various villages. 
On learning of this movement, Commandant-General 
Pieter Joubert, who was one of the triumvirate, entered 
Natal with a force superior in number, and occupied 
a strong position at Lang's Nek, on the road along 
which the British general must march. On the 28th 
of January 1881 Sir George Colley attempted to force 
the passage of the Nek, but was beaten back with 
heavy loss. He then fortified a camp at Mount Pros- 
pect, four miles' distant, and awaited reinforcements 
which were on the way from England. 

On the 8th of February with nearly three hundred 
men General Colley left his camp to patrol the road 
towards Newcastle, and near the Ingogo river was 
drawn into an engagement with a body of farmers 
under Commandant Nicolaas Smit. Up to dusk 
neither side could claim victory, but when night fell 
the remnant of the English patrol returned to camp 
in a heavy fall of rain, leaving two-thirds of those who 
went out in the morning dead and wounded on the 
field. 

In the three engagements here mentioned the 
British loss was about six hundred men, nearly half 
of whom were killed. The farmers had seventeen 
men killed and twenty-eight wounded. Military 
critics attribute the difference largely to steady aim 
and skill in shooting on one side, the farmers attribute 
it entirely to the working of Providence in their 
favour. 

The crowning disaster was yet to come. During 



348 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 

the night of the 26th of February General Colley left 
his camp with six hundred men, and climbed to the 
top of Majuba hill, posting two pickets on the way. 
From this position he hoped to command the farmers' 
camp at the Nek two thousand feet below, and when 
at dawn on the next morning Commandant-General 
Joubert observed the soldiers on the crest above him, 
he at once realised the danger. Some hundred and 
fifty volunteers now offered to try to take the hill, and 
actually made their way up in face of the superior 
force above, the bullets passing over them as if they 
were charmed. A little before noon seventy or 
eighty men reached the crest at different points, 
and then the soldiers were seized with a panic 
and fled. Ninety-two killed, one hundred and 
thirty-four wounded, and fifty-nine prisoners repre- 
sented the British loss that day, against one man 
killed and five wounded on the farmers' side. General 
Colley himself was among the slain. 

In the meantime the soldiers and British adherents 
in the Transvaal villages were closely besieged, and a 
good many lives were lost in sorties and skirmishes, 
but none were reduced to surrender. 

After Sir George Colley's death. Sir Evelyn Wood 
took command of the English forces, and as troops 
were fast arriving in Natal, he soon found himself at 
the head of twelve thousand men. But now came 
instructions from the imperial government not to 
advance, and on the 5th of March an armistice was 
concluded between the general and the triumvirate. 
This led to the arrangement of terms of peace and the 
restoration in part of independence to the republic. 



RICH GOLDFIELDS. 349 

The territory occupied by the Swazis was cut out, 
and on the other side the Keate award Hne was made 
the boundary, while further the suzerainty of Great 
Britain was imposed as one of the conditions. Thus 
reduced in size and restricted in action, the repubhc 
came again into existence. By modifications of the 
convention with Great Britain since that date the 
boundary has been extended considerably on the 
west, Swaziland has been made a fief of the State, 
and British suzerainty has been replaced by a mere 
veto upon treaties concluded with foreign govern- 
ments. In everything relating to its internal affairs 
the country is now absolutely independent. 

Four years after the re-establishment of the 
republic very extensive and rich goldfields were 
discovered in the district of Lydenburg, and a 
little later in the highland that forms the watershed 
between the Vaal and Limpopo rivers. Long 
before that time gold mines were worked in different 
parts of the territory, but the metal produced was 
not sufficient to attract the attention of the outside 
world. People now began to migrate to the fields 
from all parts of South Africa, and shortly from 
Europe as well. A town, named Barberton, was 
built in the centre of the eastern mines, and for some 
months it was the busiest place in the country ; but 
most of its inhabitants then removed to the more 
important fields of Witwatersrand. Here the city of 
Johannesburg arose, almost as by magic, with streets 
of handsome and substantial buildings and all the 
appliances of modern times. This city is now the 
first in size in South Africa, with a population of 



3 so THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 

fifty-one thousand Europeans and fifty-two thousand 
blacks. 

The production of gold has gone on increasing 
until it has reached the value of eight million pounds 
sterling a year, making the South African Republic 
one of the leading gold-producing countries of the 
world. 

The republic possesses also iron in the greatest 
abundance, coal of good quality and practically 
limitless in quantity, silver, copper, lead, and several 
other minerals which will certainly be turned to 
account at no distant date. 

The people brought into the country in such 
numbers by the attraction of gold were mostly English 
speakers, and between their interests and those of 
the farmers there was a great difference. The 
farmers regarded the country as theirs, bought with 
the blood of their kindred, and converted by them 
from a waste, such as Moselekatse had made it, into 
a civilised State covered with peaceful homesteads 
and places for worshipping God. They were de- 
termined not to surrender their right of governing 
it to strangers, who, if admitted into the legislature, 
would certainly use their power to subvert the con- 
stitution, if not the independence of the republic. 
Before 1877 the franchise was probably the lowest 
in the world, but now it was raised so that foreigners, 
without renouncing their allegiance to the govern- 
ments under which they were born and without long 
residence, could not become voters, 
' The burghers regarded the mineral wealth of the 
country also as something in which the State was 



DIVERGENT VIEWS. 351 

entitled to share largely, and which therefore should 
not be removed without leaving in its stead public 
works and buildings and improvements of other 
kinds. With this view, taxation was so arranged as 
to bear much more heavily upon the mining than 
upon the farming industry. The great mass of the 
miners and speculators they regarded not as men 
who had come there to make the republic their 
permanent home, but as men who had come there 
to make as much money as possible in as short a 
time as possible, and then to return to their own 
countries to spend it. The gold, though plentiful, 
was not inexhaustible, and when the mines were 
worked out, those strangers would certainly not 
remain. 

The newcomers, on the other hand, maintained 
that as they were the wealth producers, the persons 
who brought the revenue to a sum that would have 
been deemed fabulous before, they were entitled to 
representation in the legislature. They had many 
other grievances, among which was the discourage- 
ment of the use of the English language in schools, 
but all centred in want of representation. 

A second volksraad was introduced by the govern- 
ment to meet the difficulty, but it did not give much 
satisfaction. 

Of late years the policy of the government has 
been unfriendly towards the Cape Colony, and by 
heavy taxation of colonial produce and by an attempt 
to close the drifts of the Vaal river to colonial trade 
in order to force importers to make use of Delagoa 
Bay, so many well-wishers in other parts of South 



352 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 

Africa were turned into ill-wishers that the disaffected 
party at Johannesburg reckoned largely upon outside 
support. 

It is not possible now to write a true history of 
occurrences in December 1895 and the early days 
of 1 896, because the whole motives of the chief actors 
in them are yet unknown. It must suffice to say 
that an effort was made by a large number of the 
residents of Johannesburg to repudiate the govern- 
ment at Pretoria, that they rose in armed insurrection, 
that they failed in their object, and that the republican 
authorities dealt with the leaders in the mildest 
manner possible. 

There was one event in connection with this insur- 
rection which must be specially mentioned, so calcu- 
lated was it to create evil throughout South Africa. 
In the evening of the 29th of December 1895 Dr. 
Jameson, administrator of Rhodesia, at the head of 
over five hundred armed horsemen and a strong force 
of artillery, invaded the republic from the British 
territory on the western border, and endeavoured 
to force his way to Johannesburg. A number of 
burghers, being in readiness to meet the insurgents 
at that place, were quickly mustered to repel the 
invaders, and after some severe fighting, in which Dr. 
Jameson lost a good many men, he was obliged to 
surrender with his whole band to Commandant 
Cronje. His defeat produced the collapse of the 
rebellion, and averted the calamity of a civil war 
throughout South Africa, which almost to a certainty 
would have followed had he been successful in reach- 
ing his destination. 



EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS. 353 

Very wisely the government transferred the cap- 
tured invaders to the high commissioner, who sent 
them to England, where the leaders were tried and 
sentenced to terms of imprisonment. More than 
this it would not be proper to write as history at 
present. 

It has been stated that the policy of the republic 
was unfriendly towards the British possessions in 
South Africa. But the unfriendliness was not con- 
fined to one side, though neither the colonial govern- 
ments nor the colonial people were to blame in the 
matter. The long delay in connection with the 
transfer of Swaziland and the annexation to the 
British dominions in April and May 1895 ^^ 
the territory between the Portuguese possessions and 
Zululand, whereby the republic was shut in from 
extending to the sea, cannot be ignored as weights 
in the other scale. 

After the discovery of gold the revenue of the 
republic rose by leaps and bounds, and public works 
could be undertaken that were undreamed of before. 
A system of state-aided schools was established. 
Many new villages were laid out, and some of the 
buildings in them are among the best in South Africa. 
Telegraphs have been constructed, rivers have been 
bridged, and waggon roads have been made, though, 
of course, a great deal still remains to be done in all 
these matters. 

A railway has been completed from Pretoria to 
Delagoa Bay, with a branch line to Barberton. It 
was constructed from the Portuguese border by a 
Company called the Netherlands South African, 

24 



354 ^^^ SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, 

which was aided by the republican government. A 
line from Pretoria to Vereeniging on the Vaal river, 
passing Johannesburg, has also been constructed by 
the same Company, with assistance from the Cape 
government. At Vereeniging it is connected with 
the trunk line through the Orange Free State, which 
branches off to the three chief ports of the Cape 
Colony. From Krugersdorp there is a railway 
through Johannesburg to the Springs, passing over 
a great coal mine which supplies fuel to the city and 
to the quartz-crushing machinery along a route of 
fifty-four miles. Another line connects Johannes- 
burg with Natal, and still others are being con- 
structed in different parts of the country. 

The republic is not within the customs union of 
South Africa. The public debt is about six million 
pounds sterling. 

The country is governed by a president, who is 
elected for five years. Since the restoration of in- 
dependence Mr. S. J. Paul Kruger has uninterruptedly 
filled the office. He is aided by an executive council, 
which consists of three heads of departments and two 
non-official members appointed by the first volksraad. 
For military purposes a commandant-general is 
elected by the burghers every ten years. 

The legislative power is vested in two chambers, 
each consisting of twenty-four members, elected for 
four years. The first volksraad is by far the more 
important of the two. Its members are elected by 
burghers of European blood, either born in the 
republic or naturalised after a difficult probation. 
The second volksraad has very little power, being 



POPULATION. 



355 



intended chiefly as an advising body in matters con 
nected with the mining industry. Its constituency 
is larger than that of the first volksraad, as foreigners 
can make themselves eligible after a residence of two 
years. 

The population of the South African Republic 
consists of about two hundred and twenty thousand 
Europeans and seven hundred thousand Bantu. 




XXVII. 



RHODESIA. 



The vast territory between the Zambesi river on 
the north, the South African Repubhc on the south, 
the Portuguese possessions on the east, and the 
Bechuanaland Protectorate on the west, is called 
P*.hodesia, after the man through whose ability and 
energy it exists as a British possession. It came to 
be very thinly inhabited in exactly the same manner 
as the country south of the Limpopo river before 
1836. When Moselekatse was driven to the north 
by the emigrant farmers he commenced to destroy 
the tribes there just as he had destroyed the Bechuana, 
and Lobengula, his son and successor, continued the 
murderous practice. Large areas were utterly wasted, 
and the remnants of the tribes retreated to the hills, 
where they made their kraals among rocks in places 
difficult of access. These situations, if they could not 
be defended, offered facilities for escape when the 
Matabele bands approached in their yearly raids. 
By those terrible invaders the lives of the Makalaka 
and Mashona were held in no more esteem than the 

356 



GRANT OF A CHARTER, 357 

lives of so many antelopes. The ravagers built mili- 
tary kraals in the best situations, and at Buluwayo, 
the principal of these, the chief himself resided. This 
was the condition of the country less than ten years 
ago. 

According to modern ideas it is outrageous to enter 
a country occupied by an inferior race and take pos- 
session of anything in it by the right of the strong 
hand, but it is perfectly legitimate and moral to induce 
a chief to attach a mark to a document, the full pur- 
port of which he is incapable of comprehending, and 
thus securing under the name of a concession what- 
ever is desired. On the 30th of November 1888 
Messrs. Rudd, Maguire, and Thompson, after con- 
siderable negotiation, obtained the mark of Lobengula 
to a document giving them the right to search for 
and extract minerals in the territory under his con- 
trol. Other concessions were obtained by different 
individuals, and ultimately all were united, when 
their proprietors became the British South Africa 
Company. 

To enable this great association to carry out its 
projects a charter was applied for, which was granted 
by the imperial government on the 29th of October 
1889. By it a Company was created with a capital 
of one million pounds sterling, and with a board of 
eight directors, three appointed by the crown and 
five elected by the shareholders. Power was given 
to it to appoint and remove officers, except judges 
and magistrates, within the sphere of its operations, 
and to issue ordinances for common purposes. Judges 
and magistrates were to be appointed by the high 



358 RHODESIA. 

commissioner, who was also to proclaim important 
laws, in both instances on the recommendation of the 
Company. Mr. Cecil John Rhodes, the leading spirit 
in the enterprise, was appointed the managing 
director. 

The Company's first object was to take possession 
of some commanding positions in the country, and 
for this purpose to send in a strong armed force. Dr. 
Leander Starr Jameson was directed to proceed to 
Buluwayo to arrange matters. He had been there 
before, in 1888, when he had cured Lobengula of an 
attack of gout, and he had thus acquired much in- 
fluence. The chief gave his consent to a body of 
Europeans entering Mashonaland, but it was evident 
that the Matabele army — especially the young regi- 
ments — could not be trusted to let the expedition 
pass onward unmolested. The leaders of the pioneer 
force therefore resolved to take a circuitous route, so 
as to avoid the neighbourhood of the principal mili- 
tary kraals and to do away as much as possible with 
the danger of a collision. 

The pioneer party left the Cape Colony in March 
1890, and on the 12th of September reached the spot 
where now the town of Salisbury stands. Dr. Jame- 
son then explored the country to the eastward, and 
ascertained that with little difficulty a railroad could 
be constructed from Salisbury to Fontesville on the 
Pungwe river, a stream that is navigable for large 
.lighters from that place to Port Beira, an excellent 
harbour at the mouth. 

Forts Tuli, Victoria, Charter, and Salisbury — form- 
ing a line of posts from south to north — were built 



THE LIPPERT CONCESSION, 359 

and occupied by the Company's police, the pioneers, 
consisting of one hundred and ninety-two young 
men, dispersed in search of gold-bearing reefs, and 
numerous small parties joined them from the Cape 
Colony and the two republics. But as these parties 
did not take with them a sufficient quantity of food 
or medical requisites, and as the summer of 1890-91 
was exceptionally wet, they suffered great discomfort, 
and many died of fever brought on by exposure and 
want. 

The occupation of Mashonaland by white people 
in this manner was not at all to Lobengula's liking. 
He had anticipated that a few men would have gone 
there to look for gold, and here they were in hundreds, 
occupying strong posts and acting as if they were the 
real masters of the country. Still he did not wish 
to quarrel with them, for he appreciated the value 
of his subsidies. He chose rather to create a rival 
interest to theirs, and without any conception of the 
consequences of what he was doing, he granted 
to Mr. Edward Lippert a concession to dispose of 
farms, townships, and pasture lands within the sphere 
of operations of the British South Africa Company, 
the agreement to hold good for one hundred 
years. 

When this important concession was purchased by 
the Chartered Company, whose capital was now 
doubled, the sovereign power in Mashonaland in 
name as well as in reality was claimed. That terri- 
tory was thenceforth regarded as embracing the whole 
plateau from the Portuguese border on the east to 
the Shashi streamlet^ which flows in a southerly 



360 RHODESIA. 

direction to the Sabi river, and the Umnyati, a tribu- 
tary of the Zambesi, on the west. These streams 
were thereafter commonly termed the boundary, west 
of which Europeans were not permitted to search for 
gold and Lobengula's right to do as he pleased was 
neither disputed nor interfered with. East of it his 
rights were regarded by the Company as altogether 
extinguished, though neither he nor his army ac- 
quiesced in this view of the matter. 

The Company now considered its hold upon 
Mashonaland so secure that it could disband the 
greater number of its police and trust for defence to 
volunteers and burghers. 1 he European population 
was increasing, and as there were ample supplies of 
every kind in the country there was hardly any sick- 
ness in the summer of 1891-92. On the 20th of 
February 1892 the telegraph was opened from Cape- 
town to Salisbury. Farming was tested with good 
results, and the limits of the part that is healthy for 
Europeans were soon ascertained. Many appliances 
of modern times, including even printing presses, 
were introduced. In July 1892 the first building 
lots were sold by auction in the villages of Salis- 
bury, Victoria, and Umtali, when high prices were 
realised. Prospecting for gold was extensively car- 
ried on, and mines worked in ages long gone by 
were reopened and found to contain quartz that 
would pay for crushing, though until the heavy 
machinery required for that process could be brought 
in by rail, it was not possible to do more than make 
experiments. 

Meantime some farmers in the South African 



UNSUCCESSFUL RIVALRY, 36 1 

Republic obtained a concession of land from a petty 
chief in the country, and attempted to move in and 
form a settlement on their own account, but were 
met at the Limpopo by a strong force of police, 
who required them either to turn back or to proceed 
on their journey as subjects of the Chartered Com- 
pany. Some of them accepted the Company's terms 
and moved on, the others drew back, as President 
Kruger disowned their action and they were without 
support. 

Nothing further of much interest occurred until 
April 1893, when the telegraph wire was cut by the 
people of a Mashona kraal near Fort Victoria, and a 
piece of considerable length was carried away. Dr. 
Jameson, the administrator for the Chartered Com- 
pany, imposed a fine upon the offenders, which was 
paid by them with cattle stolen from the Matabele. 
As soon as this became known Lobengula was 
informed that his cattle would be restored to him, 
but his indignation towards the Mashona was too 
great to be appeased, and he directed a division of 
his army to punish them. Messengers were sent 
to tell the Europeans that they need not be alarmed, 
for no harm would be done to them. But when, on 
the 9th of July, Mashona fugitives came panting into 
Victoria with information that their relatives were 
being murdered, when the ferocious Matabele warriors 
pursued their victims into the township and stabbed 
to death servants before the eyes of their masters, 
English blood was unequal to the task of submission. 
Accordingly protection was given within the fort to 
as many Mashona as requested shelter. 



3^2 RHODESIA. 

When the raid commenced Dr. Jameson was at 
Sahsbury, but as soon as the wire conveyed the 
intelligence to him he left for Victoria. Upon his 
arrival he found that the European prospectors and 
farmers had abandoned the open country, and that 
the Matabele were still destroying Mashona kraals 
in the neighbourhood. He therefore sent for the 
indunas, with whom on the i8th he had a short 
conference. He informed them that within an hour 
they must retire towards Buluwayo, or he would 
drive them away. The indunas would make no 
promise, but said they could not control their young 
men, though in point of fact they withdrew^ most of 
their force, and when a couple of hours later Captain 
Lendy with a small party of mounted men was sent 
out to drive away any who were not retreating he 
found on the Victoria commonage only about three 
hundred Matabele, who were besieging a hill upon 
which some Mashona were trying to defend them- 
selves. Between these and Captain Lendy's party 
a collision occurred. The Matabele were driven 
away, and were followed about nine miles, losing 
nine or ten men in the pursuit. 

It was then ascertained that the European inhabi- 
tants of the country had not been altogether unmo- 
lested, as a farmhouse had been pillaged, and some 
hundreds of cattle of different kinds had been driven 
off. No European, however, had been harmed in 
person. 

A peaceful settlement of this matter was impos- 
sible. On the one hand Lobengule dared not punish 
his warriors for what they had done and could not 



OVERTHROW OF THE MATABELE POWER. 363 

give security against a repetition of the offence, and 
on the other the white men in the territory with a 
single voice declared that they could not continue 
their ordinary pursuits if they were to remain exposed 
to Matabele raids. 

But neither party was prepared for immediate war. 
In June Lobengule had sent a. strong division of his 
army across the Zambesi against the Barotse chief 
Lewanika, so that he was for the time being crippled. 
The British South Africa Company had no horses 
and no troops even for the protection of its magazine 
of arms at Tuli. But both parties recognised that a 
contest was inevitable, and without loss of time began 
to make preparations for it. 

The day that Lobengule's people returned from 
Fort Victoria and reported what had occurred the 
chief sent messengers to recall his army from the 
Barotse country, and he refused thereafter to receive 
his monthly subsidy of ;^ioo from the Company. 
When a demand was made upon him for compen- 
sation for the damage done to the farmhouse and for 
the cattle taken from the white people, he declined 
to give it until the Mashona who were protected by 
the Europeans were surrendered to him with their 
families and all their belongings. He and his 
indunas displayed the utmost insensibility to any 
argument thait the Mashona and Makalaka had 
rights of person and property, and they could not 
be brought to acknowledge that those miserable 
creatures were in that respect in any way different 
from the chief's cattle. 

The high commissioner was apprehensive that if 



364 RHODESIA. 

open war was commenced between the Chartered 
Company and the Matabele it might not be possible 
to prevent it spreading to the British Protectorate, 
and he therefore exerted himself to the utmost to 
restore concord. The Company was prevented from 
pressing the claim for compensation, and was limited 
to the defence of its occupied territory while he was 
endeavouring to negotiate with Lobengule. If the 
chief could have guaranteed that the Mashona 
beyond a recognised boundary would not again be 
molested, the imperial authorities would have been 
satisfied. But Lobengule could not do that, nor 
could he even long restrain his army from attacking 
the white people, as the young regiments were 
clamouring for war. 

In one instance only the high commissioner acted 
in a manner that must have irritated Lobengule. 
Some guns and ammunition were on the way inland 
to the chief, and by Sir Henry Loch's order they 
were detained at Palapye. A letter was sent to 
Lobengule to acquaint him that they would be 
allowed to go on as soon as all cause of trouble 
was removed, and expressing a desire for peace, but 
informing him distinctly that the Mashona protected 
at Fort Victoria would not be surrendered. 

Towards a missionary family and the white traders 
at and near Buluwayo Lobengule acted in a manner 
deserving the highest commendation. He informed 
them that he might not be able to protect them after 
the return of the regiments from beyond the Zambesi, 
and advised them therefore to leave the country. Not 
a European who could be regarded as having a claim 



OVERTHROW OF THE MATABELE POWER. 365 

to his protection received the slightest harm. Some 
he assisted to remove, and those who chose to remain 
he treated with all possible kindness. 

Personally the chief was anxious for peace, but as 
head of the Matabele he was unable to modify his 
claim that the Mashona should be left to the will 
of his warriors. The Chartered Company was equally 
unable to permit his bands to ravage and murder 
within the limits of its operations. No issue could 
be clearer. 

Accordingly on both sides preparations for the 
inevitable struggle were hurried on. The forts 
Victoria and Salisbury were made impregnable 
against any native force, and Charter and Tuli 
were provided with garrisons. The Company pur- 
chased a large number of horses, and enrolled a 
body of the hardiest young men in South Africa. 
These engaged to serve throughout the war without 
money payment, but were to be armed and main- 
tained, and upon the conclusion of peace each was 
to receive a farm three thousand morgen in extent, 
twenty gold reef claims, and an equal share in half 
the cattle captured, the other half to be retained by 
the Company. By the beginning of October this 
force was in readiness, but could not advance upon 
Buluwayo without the consent of the high com- 
missioner. 

On the 30th of September a patrol sent out from 
Victoria to examine the country around ascertained 
that a Matabele army of six or seven thousand men 
was encamped in a bushy spot only twenty-five miles 
north-west of the fort, and two of the European 



366 RHODESIA, 

scouts were fired upon. The Matabele were in a 
position where it would be difficult to attack them, 
but as the white people had abandoned the open 
country and Fort Victoria was impregnable, they 
could not do any harm where they were. 

Five days later, on the 5th of October, a patrol 
of three men of the Bechuanaland border police was 
fired upon by a party of about thirty Matabele on 
the southern bank of the Shashi river, near Macloutsie, 
within the Protectorate and beyond the Chartered 
Company's territory. The policemen returned the 
fire, and upon some others riding up the Matabele 
retired. It was subsequently ascertained that they 
were scouts of an army seven or eight thousand 
strong, under Gambo, a son-in-law of Lobengule. 
This affray made it evident to the high commissioner 
that the Matabele were incapable of distinguishing 
between the Chartered Company's forces and those 
of the imperial government, and brought all hope 
of a peaceful settlement to an end. It also showed 
that Lobengule, reserving only a body guard, had 
massed his army in two great divisions, to act on the 
east and on the south. That part of his force which 
had returned from the Barotse country had been 
attacked by small-pox, and many of the warriors 
had died. It had therefore been put in quarantine, 
but was now released and in the field, though the 
disease had not entirely disappeared. 

Intelligence that the imperial police had been fired 
upon in territory under imperial protection reached 
Capetown by telegraph the same day, and the high 
commissioner at once gave Dr. Jameson permission 



OVERTHROW OF THE MATABELE POWER. 367 

to send liis forces forward. There was no time to 
be lost for in five or six weeks the rainy season 
might be expected to set in. 

The plan of the campaign was that two columns 
should advance directly upon Buluwayo from 
different directions. The first was under Major 
Patrick William Forbes as commander in chief, with 
Major Allan Wilson as next in rank. On the 17th 
of October this column marched from the Ironmine 
hill, at the source of the Tokwe river. It was com- 
posed of between six and seven hundred Europeans, 
nearly three-fifths of whom were mounted, and it had 
five maxim and five other field guns of great destruc- 
tive power. It was provided with a sufficient number 
of waggons to carry its stores and to form lagers, and 
it was accompanied by five or six hundred blacks, 
who were needed to tend the cattle, assist in scouting, 
cut bushes for strengthening lagers, and do other 
work of the kind. It kept as much as possible in 
open country, so that the Matabele army following 
it might not have an opportunity to attack it by 
surprise. 

The southern column consisted of Bechuanaland 
border police and British South Africa Company's 
men in equal numbers, only four hundred and fifty 
in all, but nearly every man was mounted. Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Goold- Adams was in command. The 
column was splendidly equipped with maxims and 
other guns, and had a sufficient waggon train. It 
was accompanied by seventeen or eighteen hundred 
Bamangwato under the chief Khama. 

On the 1 8th of October an unfortunate incident 



3^8 RHODESIA. 

occurred. Three Matabele indunas, with a European 
trader as their protector, who were sent by Lobengule 
to confer with the high commissioner, though they 
had no. authority to make the concessions necessary 
for peace, arrived at Colonel Goold- Adams' camp at 
Tati. The European, without giving any information 
as to the character of his companions, went to get 
some refreshment, and during his absence the indunas 
were arrested on suspicion of being spies. Two of 
them, without comprehending that a little patience 
would ensure their release, broke away from confine- 
ment, and were shot down when attempting to 
escape. It was a deplorable affair, but it can only 
be regarded as an accident. The third induna, who 
was the highest of them all in rank, was afterwards 
found to be an envoy only in name, as he had no 
proposals of a practical nature to make. 

The column under Major Forbes was accompanied 
by Dr. Jameson, Sir John Willoughby, and Bishop 
Knight-Bruce. It destroyed the Matabele military 
kraals along its line of march, and had frequent 
skirmishes with parties of the enemy, but took such 
precautions that it could not be attacked by a large 
force except when in lager. On two occasions only 
it had encounters worthy of the name of battles, but 
on the last of these the power of Lobengule was 
completely shattered. 

A little before daylight on the morning of the 25th 
of October the column was in lager on the head 
waters of the Shangani river when it was attacked by 
a Matabele army about five thousand strong. Three 
times within about four hours bands of the savage 



OVERTHROW OF THE MATABELE POWER, 369 

warriors advanced upon the lager, but on each 
occasion they were driven back with heavy loss by 
the machine guns. 

After the fight at Shangani the column continued 
to advance, and was closely followed by the defeated 
Matabele. As soon as intelligence of the battle and 
its results reached Lobengule he sent nearly the 
whole of his body guard, including the Imbezu and 
Ingubo regiments, the very choicest of his warriors, 
to reinforce his army. The Imbezu and Ingubo, 
pure Zulus, believed that they alone could destroy 
the advancing whites, and were eager to display their 
superiority to the mongrel regiments. 

A little after noon on the ist of November the 
lager, which was being formed near the source of 
the Imbembesi river, was suddenly attacked by the 
Matabele army, that had managed to approach under 
cover of a thick forest. The Imbezu and the Ingubo 
were in front, and excited the admiration of the 
Europeans by their splendid bravery and coolness. 
But they could not get through the storm of bullets 
poured upon them from the maxim and other 
machine guns, and in less than an hour the engage- 
ment — which proved to be a decisive one — was over. 
The two gallant regiments had lost half their number 
in killed and wounded, and some others had also 
suffered severely. 

Fugitives from the battle of Imbembesi conveyed 
to Lobengule tidings that all was lost, when by his 
orders his principal kraal was set on fire, and with 
the whole of his people he fled northward towards 
the Zambesi. On the 3rd of November Major 

25 



37^ RHODESIA. 

Forbes had reached a point about eight miles distant 
from Buluwayo when he heard a tremendous report 
and saw a column of smoke shoot up to the sky. It 
was Lobengule's magazine, which the fire had reached 
and caused to explode. On the following day — 4th 
of November 1893 — the Chartered Company's force 
arrived at the still smoking kraal, and found in its 
neighbourhood only two individuals alive, two white 
men, traders, whom the chief had protected to the 
last, and who were still unharmed in property and 
in person. 

The column under Colonel Goold-Adams advanced 
more slowly, and met with no opposition except on 
one occasion. On the 2nd of November the rear of 
the waggon train was attacked by a few hundred 
men of Gambo's army, and an action followed which 
ended in the defeat of the Matabele. Three days 
later Khama and his people abandoned the expe- 
dition, and set out to return to Palapye. The 
Europeans continued to advance, and shortly after- 
wards learned that Gambo, having heard of the defeat 
at Imbembesi of an army superior to his own, had 
retreated northward with his regiments. Being 
apprehensive, however, that they might meet with 
resistance in a range of hills through which they were 
obliged to pass, they marched slowly and took pre- 
cautions against surprise, so that they only reached 
Buluwayo on the 15th of November. 

Various messages were sent to Lobengule assuring 
him of personal safety if he would surrender, but as 
these had no effect, Dr. Jameson resolved to send a 
part}' to capture him, and so bring hostilities to an 



OVERTHROW OF THE MATABELE POWER. 3/1 

end. As soon therefore as the southern column 
reached Buluwayo Major Forbes with two hundred 
and ten of the Chartered Company's men and ninety 
of the Bechuanaland border police, well provided 
with maxims, set out in pursuit. The rainy season 
had now commenced, and the difficulty of traversing 
the country was greatly increased. The horses soon 
became unfit for much exertion, and it was necessary 
to send the greater number of the men back to Bulu- 
wayo, causing considerable delay before reinforce- 
ments could arrive. A great many Matabele were 
dispersed over the country along the line of march, 
but they offered no resistance, and it was evident 
that if the chief could be captured they would at 
once lay down their arms and submit. 

On the 3rd of December Major Forbes' force was 
on the left bank of the Shangani river, and it was 
ascertained that Lobengule's waggons, in which he 
was travelling, had crossed the preceding day. The 
chief was known to be ill, and it was believed that 
there were not many soldiers with him prepared to 
fight. Major Wilson, with a picked body of men 
mounted on the best horses of the patrol, was there- 
fore sent on with directions to follow the spoor, but 
under any circumstances to return before dark. The 
main body of the patrol formed a lager on the bank 
of the stream. 

Instead of returning before dark Major Wilson 
remained beyond the Shangani that night, and at 
daylight on the morning of the 4th rode up to the 
chief's waggons. The men who were with Lobengule 
showed fight, and the little band of Europeans was 



0^2 RHODESIA. 

attacked and several of their horses were killed. 
Some might have escaped if they had chosen to ride 
away, but no one thought of abandoning his comrades, 
and so they stood side by side till their ammunition 
was all expended, and then, with heaps of Matabele 
dead around them, the last of the brave thirty-four 
met their fate as became gallant men. 

While this tragedy was being enacted on the 
eastern side of the Shangani, Major Forbes was 
attacked on the western bank, but succeeded in 
beating off his assailants. The river meantime had 
come down in flood, and communication between the 
banks was cut off. The firing in the action with 
Major Wilson's party was distinctly heard, but it 
was not possible to give assistance, and without being 
certain whether any had escaped or not, on the 5 th 
of December Major Forbes was obliged to retire 
towards Buluwayo. The return march was attended 
with much suffering, but without further mishap. 

An occurrence must here be related, which is the 
only disgraceful event of the war. Lobengule had 
sent several messages to say he intended giving 
himself up, but had taken no steps to make his 
assertions good. That he ever intended to surrender 
to an armed force is in the highest degree improb- 
able, but that he would have been willing to meet 
Dr. Jameson and other white men for the purpose 
of arranging terms by which he might retain his 
position as chief in a modified form is tolerably 
certain. He had a thousand sovereigns in his 
waggon when he fled from Buluwayo, and when 
ill and hard pressed by his pursuers he sent mes- 



CONCLUSION OF PEACE. 



373 



sengers with this money as a peace offering to the 
Enghsh commander, hoping to be granted terms. 
On the way his messengers fell in with two scouts 
of the Bechuanaland border police, to whom they 
delivered their message and the money, and these 
scoundrels concealed the matter and kept the gold. 
Whether Wilson's party would have been destroyed 
if the message had been conveyed to Major Forbes 
can be only conjecture, but the probabilities are that 
a satisfactory arrangement would have been made in 
time to prevent that lamentable occurrence. After 
all was over the matter was discovered, and the two 
policemen were tried and sentenced to fourteen 
years' imprisonment with hard labour, surely a light 
punishment for a crime of such magnitude. 

On the 22nd of November Babyane and four other 
indunas came in to inquire what terms of peace would 
be granted, and they were followed two days later by 
fourteen others, whose object was to obtain the like 
information. They were told that if they would 
surrender their arms they might return to their 
kraals and make gardens without being molested. 
The military huts were, however, destroyed. On 
the 23rd of January 1894 Lobengula died of fever 
and gout about forty miles south of the Zambesi, and 
his death removed the only barrier to a pacification 
of the country. Before that time the greater number 
of his people had accepted British rule, and expressed 
themselves satisfied with the change ; though, of 
course, at heart they were far from being so. 
During the campaign nineteen Europeans, besides 
Wilson's party, lost their lives from all causes. 



374 



RHODESIA. 



In this manner Matabeleland, the vast healthy plain 
in the centre of the continent, from four to six thousand 
feet above the level of the sea, was acquired by the 
British South Africa Company, and with Mashonaland 
took the name Rhodesia. Salisbury remained the 
seat of government, but on the 14th of November 
the high commissioner issued a proclamation making 
Matabeleland a subordinate district, and appointing 
a magistrate to reside at Buluwayo. 

Two townships were laid out : one at Buluwayo, 
and the other at Gwelo, the centre of what is 
believed to be a rich mining territory some distance 
beyond. A few building sites were sold at Buluwayo 
privately before the 30th of July 1894, and on that 
and the two succeeding days three hundred and 
fifty-nine plots of ground were disposed of there by 
auction, and realised on an average rather over ^^104 
each. On the ist of August sixty-three building lots 
were sold by auction at Gwelo, and realised rather 
over £6'^ each. No town in South Africa, except 
Johannesburg, ever made such progress in building 
as Buluwayo in the first two years of its existence. 

Courts of justice, churches, schools, and telegraph 
offices took the place of military kraals, and the lives 
and property of black men, as well as of white, became 
secure in a region where, just before, the midnight 
executioner and the ruthless despoiler were the 
savage agents of a despotic chief 

The astonishing progress which the country was 
making was checked in 1895 by a severe drought 
and by the ravages of swarms of locusts, followed 
by an outbreak of runderpest in a most destructive 



DROUGHT AND DISEASE. 375 

form among the cattle. The disbanded Matabele 
warriors, weary of the monotony of hfe under a 
European government, and longing for excitement 
of some kind, were under any circumstances unre- 
liable subjects ; and when the priests or ministers 
of the mighty spirit that dwelt in a cave announced 
that the white men were sorcerers and the cause of 
the disasters, they accepted the statement as true. 
For various reasons they did not regard themselves 
as beaten in the war of 1893. They had not been 
punished in the way they had been accustomed 
to deal with defeated enemies, and could not 
understand why a conqueror should spare his 
opponents, except on the assumption that he was 
afraid of them. Much discontent also was caused 
by the manner in which the captured oattle had 
been disposed of 

Towards the close of 1895 the country was denuded 
of the mounted police foice for the purpose related 
in the chapter on the South African Republic, and 
when tidings were received that Dr. Jameson, the 
conqueror of Lobengula, was himself conquered 
and a prisoner, the greater part of the Matabele 
tribe rose in rebellion. Many cf the miners, 
prospectors, and farmers were fortunate enough 
to be able to make their way to the towns, but 
some hundreds of men, women, and children were 
cruelly murdered. 

In every instance in which the Europeans met them 
in battle the insurgents were defeated, but a good 
many white men were killed while fighting. A large 
section of the Mashona, in the belief that the Matabele 



376 RHODESIA- 

would be the victors, also rose in arms, proving how 
slender the tie of gratitude is with them. Before 
December 1896 most of the chiefs had accepted 
the terms of peace which were offered, and which 
left considerable power in their hands, but parts of 
the territory remained in a disturbed condition. 

Most strenuous efforts are being made to push on 
the construction of railroads. It is believed that the 
southern line will be completed to Buluwayo by the 
close of 1897, and it will give communication with all 
the ports of the Cape Colony. The eastern line from 
Beira at the mouth of the Pungwe river is also being 
rapidly extended towards Salisbury, and will shortly 
cross the Portuguese border. 



XXVIII. 

THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 

When the Portuguese at the close of the fifteenth 
century made their appearance in the Indian sea, 
they found stations on the African coast as far south 
as Sofala occupied by Arabs who carried on an 
extensive trade with Hindostan, Persia, and the 
adjacent countries. The people among whom the 
Arabs lived were not subject to them, except on 
the islands, but tolerated their presence and left 
them generally undisturbed on account of the benefits 
derived from trade. They formed many independent 
communities, generally intensely jealous of each other, 
and they had greatly deteriorated in blood owing to 
their ancestors having taken Bantu women as wives, 
so that they were easily reduced to subjection by the 
Europeans. 

Sofala was at that time a place of great reputation 
throughout the east, on account of the gold that was 
exported through it. This gold was collected by 
Bantu in places some distance from the coast, and 
was then obtained by the Arabs in barter. It is 
not possible to ascertain what quantity was sent 

377 



37^ THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 

away yearly, but it was probably much greater in 
the fifteenth century than at a later date, because 
just when the Portuguese arrived the Makalanga 
tribe, that occupied the country in which the mines 
were situated, began to break into fragments bitterly 
hostile to each other. The paramount chief of this 
tribe had the title of Monomotapa, a word that by 
some means became misunderstood hy Europeans, 
and was afterwards used as the name of the whole 
country from the lower Zambesi to Cape Agulhas. 
The ruins of buildings constructed in Mashonaland 
by some remote race of gold seekers were known 
to the Arabs and Bantu, but no traditions extended 
back to their origin. 

Sofala has not a good harbour ; but, owing to its 
reputation, the king of Portugal resolved to take 
possession of it, and in September 1505 an expe- 
dition under Pedro da Nhaya arrived there with 
that object. The Arabs at first offered no oppo- 
sition, and a fort was built before hostilities broke 
out, when the sheikh was killed, and his people 
became vassals of the Europeans. The place proved 
exceedingly unhealthy, but it was maintained from 
that date onward as a trading station. The mongrel 
Arabs were provided with goods, and went inland 
bartering gold and ivory, with which they returned 
to the Portuguese fort. Supplies were received from 
the magazines at Mozambique by means of small 
vessels manned by blacks under European officers, 
and the gold and ivory were sent to that station, which 
was the headquarters of the Portuguese on the East 
African coast. 



FORMATION OF TRADING STATIONS. 379 

For more than a quarter of a century Sofala remained 
the only post occupied by white people in the country. 
Then two small forts were built on the southern bank 
of the Zambesi : one, named Sena, about a hundred 
and forty miles from the mouth of the river, the other, 
named Tete, a little over three hundred miles from 
the sea. Each was a trading station, to and from 
which merchandise was conveyed up and down the 
stream in boats. 

In 1 544 a man named Lourengo Marques ascertained 
that ivory was to be had from natives on the shores 
of Delagoa Bay, and thereafter a small vessel was 
sent yearly from Mozambique and remained for a 
few weeks trading for that article. But no fort or 
durable building of any kind was erected there, 
except by the Dutch, before 1787. 

After the middle of the sixteenth century also 
Inhambane was visited occasionally by trading 
vessels from Mozambique, though permanent occu- 
pation commenced only in 1730. 

Colonisation was not even attempted. The forts 
were guarded by a few soldiers, and the officers 
were almost the only traders. Whether soldiers or 
civilians, the Portuguese in East Africa degenerated 
rapidly. A European female was very rarely seen, 
and nearly every white man consorted with native 
women. Fever, when it did not kill them outright, 
deprived them of energy, and there was nothing to 
stimulate them to exertion. Cut off from all society 
but that of barbarians, often, until towards the close 
of the sixteenth century, without any religious minis- 
trations, sunk in sloth, and suffering from excessive 



380 THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 

heat and deadly malaria, no lives led by Europeans 
anywhere could be more miserable than theirs. 

The gold obtained in commerce was of trifling value, 
but it was believed that if the mines were in the 
hands of white men great wealth could be drawn from 
them. Accordingly, in 1569 a splendidly equipped 
force of a thousand men, under an experienced officer 
named Francisco Barreto, was sent from Lisbon to 
effect the conquest. This expedition ascended the 
Zambesi to the junction of the Mazoe, and then 
attempted to proceed up the valley of the last-named 
stream. In several hotly contested actions with the 
natives it was victorious ; but fever, loss of all the 
transport cattle, the nature of the country, and the 
wiliness of the enemy, soon brought about its destruc- 
tion. Very few indeed escaped to return to Portugal. 
A little later another attempt was made, and an army 
went inland from Sofala, but effected nothing. 

In 1560 some missionaries of the Society of Jesus 
tried to establish themselves in South-Eastern Africa. 
One of them, by name Gongalvo da Silveira, was 
murdered by the monomotapa, and the others were 
obliged to withdraw, but successors resumed the work. 
About 1 5 80 the Dominicans entered the territory, and 
from that date until 1775 they had numerous stations 
scattered among the people. Their converts were 
told by thousands, yet within a single generation 
after the removal of the European teachers hardly 
a trace of Christianity was visible. 

In 1592 the garrisons of Tete and Sena were exter- 
minated by an invading horde, and when an attempt 
to recover those places was made by a body of troops 



GENERAL DECLINE, 38 1 

from Mozambique, it failed disastrously. An arrange- 
ment, however, was made with the blacks by which 
the stations were reoccupied purely as trading posts. 

When at the highest point of their prosperity the 
Portuguese possessed, south of the Zambesi, only the 
forts that have been named and a few trading 
stations inland, where individuals were permitted to 
reside and carry on barter, upon payment to the 
chiefs of heavy taxes under the name of presents. 
In 1609, by taking the part of one of the rival claim- 
ants to the dignity of monomotapa, the Portuguese 
government appeared to be in a fair way of securing a 
firm footing, a prospect which was soon destroyed, 
however, by the incompetency of its officials. After 
this many Portuguese took part in tribal wars, and 
there was even an instance of a powerful chief being 
deposed and replaced by another through the instru- 
mentality of a few missionaries and traders, but the 
government never obtained actual control over any 
large body of Bantu in the territory beyond gunshot 
of the forts. 

After the destruction of the Portuguese power in 
the eastern seas by the Dutch, the stations on the 
East African coast have no history worth recording 
until our own times. So low had they sunk that at 
the beginning of the present century there were only 
twelve hundred and seventy-seven professing Chris- 
tians in the whole territory south of the Zambesi, and 
these included Asiatics, mixed breeds, and blacks, as 
well as the Europeans of all ages and both sexes. 
The only occupied places were Louren^o Marques in 
Delagoa Bay, Inhambane, Sofala, Sena, and Tete; 



382 THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 

but there were a few Europeans and Asiatics scattered 
about among the Bantu. The old trading and mission 
stations in the interior were so completely lost that 
even their sites were forgotten. 

The wars that followed the establishment of the 
Zulu power by Tshaka drove two bodies of fugitives 
northward along the coast, both of whom created 
fearful havoc. First came the Angoni, slaughtering 
all before them until they reached the border of the 
lake Nyassa, where they are living to-day. Follow- 
ing them came the followers of Manikusa, now called 
the Abagaza, who remained as lords in the belt of 
land between the central plateau and the sea, from the 
Zambesi to Delagoa Bay. In 1833 they captured the 
garrison of Lourengo Marques, and put every man to 
death. In 1834 they destroyed Inhambane, and killed 
all the inhabitants except ten. In 1836 they took 
Sofala, and left no Portuguese living there. Next 
they pillaged Sena, but some of the inhabitants took 
refuge on islands in the river, and were allowed to 
return upon payment of tribute. Towards the other 
Bantu they acted as wolves do towards sheep, for 
none were able to resist them. 

When the first fury of the conquest of the country 
by Manikusa was over, the Portuguese stations were 
reoccupied by feeble garrisons of convicts and blacks, 
who existed there on sufferance. 

After 1838, when the emigrant farmers from the 
Cape Colony began to settle on the highlands of the 
interior between the Vaal and Limpopo rivers, Dela- 
goa Bay "acquired a value it never had before. It 
was the nearest port to the newly occupied territory, 



MACMAHOJSfS AWARD. 3S3 

and efforts were repeatedly made to open a road to it. 
These did not succeed for many years, owing to the 
[)revalence of fever near the coast and to the inter- 
mediate belt of land being infested with the tsetse fly, 
but the position of the bay made it certain that in 
time all the difficulties of establishing communication 
through it between the South African Republic and 
the outer world would be overcome. 

In 1 86 1 an event took place which greatly bene- 
fited the Portuguese. This was the death of 
Manikusa, chief of the Abagaza, whose name was a 
watchword of terror in the country. Two of his sons 
fought with each other for the chieftainship, and the 
Portuguese, by aiding Umzila, who conquered his 
opponent, obtained a cession of territory, and what 
was of more importance, a declaration of vassalage 
and a friendly neighbour. 

In July 1869 a commercial treaty was concluded 
between the governments of Portugal and of the 
South African Republic, and in it a boundary line — 
the one now existing — was laid down. This treaty 
was viewed unfavourably by Great Britain, and that 
country thereupon put forward a claim to the southern 
and eastern shore of Delagoa Bay, based on certain 
documents obtained from native chiefs by Captain 
Owen, of the royal navy, \n 1823. The Portuguese 
government refused to acknowledge this claim, and 
it was referred to the arbitration of the president of 
the French republic, who in July 1875 decided 
against Great Britain. 

In March 1887 a Company was formed in London 
to construct a railway from Lourengo Marques to the 



384 THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 

border of the South African Republic, under a con- 
cession from ihe Portuguese government The Hne, 
when completed, was seized by the authorities, owing 
to a clause of the concession not having been carried 
out, and the amount of compensation to be paid to 
the shareholders has not yet been settled. From the 
border to Pretoria the line was continued by the 
Netherlands South African Company, and in July 
1895 was opened for traffic. A large proportion of 
the commerce of the republic now finds its way to 
Delagoa Bay, and with the vast development of the 
gold fields during recent years, the traffic is as much 
as the line can carry. 

Louren^o Marques has thus become a place of 
considerable im.portance. A town of some size has 
sprung up, and is rapidly growing, though the death- 
rate is exceedingly high. It is believed, however, 
that with the drainage of a great marsh adjoining it 
the place will become less unhealthy. There is no 
commerce of any consequence with the surrounding 
territory, which is, as of old, in possession of Bantu 
clans, the existence of Lourenco i\Iarques as a town 
being due solely and entirely to the transit of 
merchandise and passengers between the shipping 
and the railway to the interior. Yet it is to-day 
much the most important place in the Portuguese 
possessions in South-Eastern Africa. 

Next to it comes Beira, a town unknown ten years 
ago, and which sprang into being as the ocean 
terminus of a road from a settlement — not Portu- 
guese — in the interior. Beira is at the mouth of the 
Pungwe river, not far north of Sofala. It has an 



HOSTILITIES WITH THE ENGLISH. 385 

excellent harbour, capacious, with good depth of 
water, and easy of access. The Arabs had once a 
small settlement there, but the Portuguefie never 
occupied the place in olden times, and when the 
Asiatics retired it fell into such utter decay that for 
more than three centuries it was completely for- 
gotten. 

When the pioneer expedition of the British South 
Africa Company was on the way from the Cape 
Colony to Salisbury in September 1890 Messrs. 
Colquhoun and Selous, two of its officers, turned out 
of the road to visit the chief Umtasa at Manika, who 
was induced by them to place himself under British 
protection and to grant a concession of mineral and 
other rights in his country. This chief was claimed 
by the Portuguese as one of their subjects, and some 
little time afterwards several Portuguese officials 
visited his kraal. There, on the 14th of November, 
they were arrested by Major Forbes, of the British 
South Africa Company, and were sent to Salisbury 
as prisoners. 

There was great excitement in Portugal when 
intelligence of the events at Umtasa's kraal reached 
that country. Bands of students pressed forward as 
volunteers to defend the honour of their flag, and 
were sent with all haste to Beira. Upon the arrival 
of the first party at that port, they, with some negroes 
from Angola, were ordered to occupy a recently- 
erected trading station named Andrada, about twenty 
English miles from Umtasa's kraal. They arrived at 
that station on the 5th of May 1891. Not far distant 
vv^as a camp of the British South Africa Company's 

26 



386 THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 

police, fifty-three in number, commanded by Captain 
Heyman. On the nth of Maya Portuguese force 
consisting of about a hundred Europeans and three 
or four hundred Angola blacks, was sent out to make 
a reconnaissance, and at two in the afternoon fell in 
with the English pickets, who retired upon the camp. 
The Portuguese followed, and an action was brought 
on, which resulted in their total defeat, with a heavy 
loss in killed and wounded. There were no casualties 
on the British side. 

The whole Portuguese force now fled precipitately 
to the sea coast, abandoning Andrada, which the 
British Chartered Company's men occupied on the 
following day. They found there some stores, of 
which they took possession as lawful spoil of war, but 
the most valuable part of the booty consisted of 
eleven machine guns that had been left behind. 

Negotiations between the two governments in 
Europe were shortly afterwards completed, and in 
June 1 89 1 a treaty was signed at Lisbon, in which a 
boundary between the British and Portuguese posses- 
sions was defined,- the same as it exists at present. 
The treaty provided further that in the event of either 
of the powers proposing to part with any territory 
belonging to it south of the Zambesi, the other should 
have a preferential right to purchase the territory in 
question, or any portion of it. A very important 
clause provided for the immediate survey and speedy 
construction of a railroad from the British territory 
to Beira, and for encouraging commerce by that 
route. 

And now, for the first time, the Portuguese 



THE MOZAMBIQUE COMPANY. 387 

territory in South Africa was defined on all sides, 
and was secured from invasion by tribes beyond its 
border. 

In accordance with the terms of the treaty, a 
Company was formed for the construction of the 
railway, which is now open to within a very short 
distance of the boundary, and whi:h is rapidly 
being pushed on towards Salisbury. The gauge 
is only two feet and a half. The line passes 
entirely through the belt of country infested by 
the tsetse fly, and until the runderpest in 1896 
swept off the cattle, transport from the terminus 
inland by means of ox-waggons was comparatively 
easy. 

Beira, which is built on a tongue of sand extending 
into the Pungwe river, is the healthiest site on that 
part of the coast. The town has advanced with rapid 
strides, and is already a place of considerable import- 
ance. 

The whole of Portuguese South Africa between 
the Zambesi and Sabi rivers, except the district of 
which Tete is the centre, is now ruled by the Mozam- 
bique Company. This Company was formed in 1 888 
as a mining corporation, the acquisition of the gold- 
fields of Manika being the inducement to the share- 
holders to subscribe the capital. In February 1891, 
however, the Company obtained a royal charter, 
which conferred upon it extensive privileges. It has 
a monopoly of all mineral and commercial rights, 
which it may lease in detail to associations or indi- 
viduals, it is under an obligation to introduce a 
limited number of colonists, and it has taxing and 



388 THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 

governing powers subject to the supreme authorities 
at Lisbon. 

The chief official of the Mozambique Company in 
the territory between the Zambesi and Sabi rivers 
has the title of governor, and resides at Beira. The 
country is divided into districts, over each of which a 
commissioner, subordinate to the governor, presides. 
The officers who administer justice are appointed by 
the supreme authorities at Lisbon, and are not subject 
to the Company, but to the governor-general of 
Mozambique. 

Sena and Sofala have not recovered their old im- 
portance, small as that was, and are now insignificant 
places compared with Beira. 

The tract of land between the Limpopo and 
Manisa rivers, from the border of the South African 
Republic to the sea, is held by another Company 
under a concession from the crown, dated in Novem- 
ber 1893, but nothing has yet been done to develop 
its resources. 

Inhambane, the port of the territory between the 
Limpopo and the Sabi, has made some progress of 
late years, though, as it is dependent upon trade with 
the Bantu only, it is far less important than Lourengo 
Marques or Beira. The village consists of a church 
and a few houses and shops. 

There remains the territory of which Tete is the 
seat of government, between the Zambesi and the 
Anglo-Portuguese border west of the Mozambique 
Company's district. It is occupied entirely by Bantu, 
except the village, which contains a church and from 
twenty to thirty stone houses of European pattern. 



PRESENT CONDITION. 389 

It is protected by a small garrison of black troops 
with white officers, who occupy a fort overlooking the 
river. The European residents, officials included, do 
not number more than twenty-five or thirty, for the 
commerce of the place is small. 

The government of Tete, as of all the Portuguese 
stations in South Africa except those under the 
administration of the Chartered Company, is military 
in form, and subordinate to Mozambique. The Jesuits 
have recently established a mission here and also 
at a station a few miles distant. There are extensive 
coalfields in the neighbourhood, and it is possible 
that, owing to them, the village may some day 
become a thriving place. 

Throughout the whole territory from the Zambesi 
to Lourenco Marques difficulties in controlling the 
Bantu have been experienced of late years, but 
Portugal has opened her eyes to the fact that it is 
necessary to employ other and better forces than 
convicts and uncivilised negroes, such as were 
formerly engaged, and she has succeeded in estab- 
lishing her authority fairly well. Towards the close 
of 1895 the great chief Gungunhana, son and succes- 
sor of Umzila, assumed an attitude which compelled 
the government to bring him to account by force of 
arms. He was captured and banished in January 
1896, and with his defeat the peace of the country 
has probably been secured, at least for sonie time to 
come. 

Lines of steamships now connect the various har- 
bours with Europe by way of the Red sea, and with 
the British settlements of Natal and the Cape Colony. 



390 



THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 



The commerce of the territory has made rapid pro- 
gress, and the prospects of Portuguese South Africa 
seem brighter to-day than at any previous time since 
Pedro da Nhaya built the first fort on the river bank 
of Sofala. 




XXIX. 

THE BRITISH PROTECTORATE. THE GERMAN PRO- 
TECTORATE. WALFISH BAY AND THE 
GUANO ISLANDS. 

The British Protectorate. 

The territory between the Molopo and Botletle 
rivers is under the protection of Great Britain, which 
means that all white people living in it are under the 
jurisdiction of magistrat-es appointed by the high 
commissioner, and that the relationship of the native 
tribes to each other is controlled by the same 
authority, though the government of the chiefs over 
their own people is not often interfered with. Much 
the greater portion of this territory is without surface 
water, and is very thinly inhabited by Bushmen and 
wandering Bechuana who were formerly held by the 
tribes with fixed residences at the fountains in a 
condition of the most abject slavery. 

The principal tribes in this territory are the Bang- 
waketsi under the chief Bathoen, the Bakwena under 
the chief Sebele, and the Bamangwato under the chief 
Khama. All of these tribes suffered greatly from 
Moselekatse, and indeed narrowly escaped complete 

391 



392 THE BRITISH PROTECTORATE. 

destruction. The nature of the country to the westward 
of their principal kraals was such, however, that they 
were able to take refuge in it without fear of pursuit by 
the Matabele, who were unacquainted with the places 
where underground water could be found. Still they 
lost all their property, and the greater number oi 
them perished of hunger. 

The principal kraal of the Bangwaketsi is Kanj^e, 
and close by is the place where Makaba, Bathoen's 
ancestor, defeated the great Mantati horde that laid 
waste the southern portion of what is now the South 
African Republic. The horde was at the time in 
a famishing condition, and was encamped in two 
sections some distance apart, so that Makaba was 
able to fall upon and defeat one division before the 
other could come to its aid. This Makaba, who was 
regarded as a hero by the tribe, was afterwards killed 
in battle by another enemy, when the best of his 
warriors were also slain. It was only after Mosele- 
katse was driven to the north by the emigrant farmers 
that the Bangwaketsi were able to rally and settle 
down, but since that time they have lived unmolested. 

Next to the north are the Bakwena, whose principal 
kraal is named Molopolole. This is the tribe with 
which the reverend Dr. Livingstone lived when 
Setyeli, who collected its fragments together and 
brought them out of the desert, was its chief Setyeli 
acted generally with -prudence, and kept his people 
out of strife as much as possible, so that they 
grew in number and became prosperous. He died 
a year or two ago, and was .succeeded by his son 
Sebele. 



THE CHIEF KHAMA. 393 

The Bamangwato are farther to the north. Mosele- 
katse committed dreadful havoc with this tribe, but 
spared the heir to its chieftainship, whom he made a 
soldier in one of his regiments. As soon as it was 
safe to do so, the remnant of the tribe came out of 
4:he desert, and under the leadership of a man named 
Sekhomi, who was a member of the ruling house, 
went to reside at Shoshong, a place which could be 
easily defended, though it was poorly supplied with 
water and otherwise an uninviting locality. 

Years passed away, and Matsheng, the legitimate 
chief of the Bamangwato, still remained a Matabele 
soldier. At last, through the influence of the reverend 
Dr. Moffat with Moselekatse, he was released, and 
was received with great joy as their ruler by the 
people at Shoshong. But he had acquired Matabele 
habits and tried to govern in the Matabele way, so 
his subjects became dissatisfied, and at length there 
was a revolution, when he was obliged to seek the 
protection of the Bakwena chief Setyeli, and Sekhomi 
became again the head of the Bamangwato. 

It was not possible for the tribe to grow powerful 
at a place like Shoshong, yet it dared not move away 
through fear of the Matabele. It managed to exist, 
and that was all. 

Sekhomi's eldest son, Khama by name, grew up to 
be a man of great ability, but between him and his 
father and his brother Khamane a feeling of deep 
enmity arose. Khama, who had embraced the 
Christian religion, refused to comply with the ancient 
customs, and this was regarded by Sekhomi as 
rebellion. The young man with a large party 



394 ^^^ BRITISH PROTECTORATE. 

attached to him then moved far away to the north- 
west, and settled on the banks of the Botletle river, 
but sickness carried off many of his followers there. 
With the remainder he returned, overthrew his father 
and his brother, and made himself chief at Shoshong. 
Khamane fled to the South African Republic, where 
a location was given to him. 

Khama has proved an exceptionally able ruler, and 
by his skilful dealing with the British authorities has 
secured the recognition by the imperial government 
of his claim to the enormous tract of country stretch- 
ing from below Shoshong to the Botletle river. As 
soon as a strong detachment of European police was 
stationed between him and the Matabele he removed 
from Shoshong to Palapye, where there is no want of 
water and ground for gardens. He then permitted 
Khamane to occupy Shoshong. 

The Bakalahari and Bushmen who roam over the 
waste parts of the Protectorate are among the most 
miserable inhabitants of this earth. The former are 
Bechuana by blood, but long servitude to pitiless 
masters has taken all spirit out of them and made 
them int-e^isely stupid. During the last ten years, 
that is since there have been European officials in the 
country, the lot of these poor creatures has been 
ameliorated, and their lives are now comparatively 
secure. In well-frequented places they are even able 
to hold property, but in the desert they have not yet 
come to realise that their masters have no longer any 
right to deal with them according to inclination. 

At the principal kraals in the Bechuanaland Pro- 
tectorate missionaries of the London society have 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 395 

been stationed for many years, and large numbers of 
the people have embraced the Christian religion. 

The railroad from Capetown to Buluwayo passes 
near Kanye, Molopolole, and Palapye, thus bringing 
the most thickly settled part of this territory into 
connection with a seaport. 

The Protectorate is divided into two districts, over 
each of which an officer presides who receives his in- 
structions from the high commissioner. All Europeans 
in the territory and all others who are not subjects of 
the chiefs, who commit offences, are tried by these 
magistrates. The chiefs govern their own people 
without interference except in very serious cases of 
crime, but their relationship to each other is subject 
to control, and they are required to collect money to- 
wards the maintenance of the white officials. At the 
present time, January, 1897, the people of the terri- 
tory are in great distress, owing to a severe drought 
in 1895 and 1896, and the loss of nearly all their 
cattle from runderpest, but sufficient maize has been 
imported to prevent starvation and many hundreds 
of the young men are employed in the construction 
of the railway. 

The British Protectorate is within the customs 
union of the Cape Colony and the Orange Free 
State. 

The German Protectorate. 

In 1884 Germany commenced to secure a footing 
on the south-western coast of Africa by declaring her 
sovereignty over Angra Pequena and its shores, and 
gradually her protectorate has been extended until it 



39^ THE GERMAN PROTECTORATE. 

now covers the territory from the Cunene river on 
the north to the Orange river on the south, and 
from the Atlantic ocean on the west to a long dis- 
tance inland. Walfish Bay, however, the only good 
port along the whole line of coast, belongs to the 
Cape Colony. 

In striking contrast with the opposite side of the 
continent, the German Protectorate, owing to the dry- 
ness of its air, is extremely favourable to the health 
of Europeans. The southern portion is almost rain- 
less, and fountains are few in number, but as one goes 
northward the moisture increases, though nowhere 
can the land be correctly described as capable of 
supporting an agricultural population. It is never- 
theless well adapted for cattle rearing. Copper is 
known to exist, but whether in quantity and quality 
sufficient to pay for its extraction and removal 
through so arid a country to the nearest port from 
which it could be sent to Europe, remains to be 
proved. It is generally believed that other minerals 
will also be found. 

The natives of this territory are Hottentots as far 
north as Walfish Bay, and beyond that Bantu. The 
Herero or Damara and the Ovampo tribes, being 
without a mixture of Asiatic blood in their veins, are 
blacker in colour and lower in intellect than the 
Bantu of the east. In this territory is also to be found 
a class of people who are certainly Bantu in blood, 
though their language and customs are those of 
Hottentots, and their mode of subsistence is that of 
Bushmen. They are usually known as Berg Damaras. 
How they came into the condition in which they are 



COLONISING EFFORTS. 397 

at present is a mystery that has not yet been cleared 
up, but probably their remote ancestors were subjected 
by Hottentots and compelled to adopt the speech of 
their conquerors. 

The Germans have already had the same ex- 
perience as other nations that attempted before them 
to control the barbarous tribes of South Africa. A 
long and difficult war with the Hottentot chief 
Hendrik Witbooi was followed by one with the 
Damaras, but as a matter of course the Europeans 
with their boundless resources were in the end 
successful in these struggles. A military force of 
over a thousand men is at present maintained in the 
Protectorate, and it is difficult to conjecture what 
return there can be for the outlay, as the commerce 
is very trifling. A large deposit of guano is being 
removed from the neighbourhood of Cape Cross, but 
that will soon be exhausted. 

Great efforts are being made by the German 
authorities to introduce colonists, though the ter- 
ritory is ill fitted to receive them in large numbers. 
A few farmers from other parts of South Africa 
have moved in, and they may succeed as cattle 
breeders. Some others may make a living as mis- 
sionaries and traders, but unless the country should 
be found to contain great mineral wealth, there can 
be no opening for many individuals except in these 
occupations. 

The want of a harbour is a great drawback to the 
German Protectorate. Goods are sometimes landed 
at the mouth of the Swakop river, but only in calm 
weather, and even then at much risk, for a heavy surf 



39^ WALFISH BAY AND GUANO ISLANDS. 

is usually rolling on the coast. For this reason 
most of the traffic has hitherto passed through the 
Cape Colonial port of Walfish Bay. Marine 
engineers, however, may possibly be able to devise 
some means of providing a secure landing-place at 
the mouth of the Swakop. 

Walfish Bay and the Guano Islands. 

Walfish Bay was made a dependency of the Cape 
Colony by the Dutch East India Company, but the 
circumstance was forgotten by the English administra- 
tion, and the place was entirely neglected until 1878. 
In March of that year, on account of its strategical 
importance, the bay with a small tract of land around 
it was formally taken in possession as part of the 
British empire, and a magistrate was sent to reside 
there. In August 1884 it was annexed to the Cape 
Colony. A more uninviting spot can hardly be 
imagined, as the country is nothing but a dreary waste 
of sand. Within the line which separates the British 
from the German territory there are living about 
seven hundred Hottentots of a very low type. The 
only other inhabitants are the colonial magistrate 
with his staff of police, a missionary family, and a 
few traders and forwarders of goods to the interior. 

Along the coast between Walfish Bay and the 
mouth of the Orange river there are several rocky 
islets upon which seabirds congregate in vast flocks, 
and as there is hardly any rainfall in that region the 
guano is of considerable value. In 1866 these islets, 
twelve in number, were proclaimed dependencies of 



ICHABOE ISLAND. 



399 



the Cape Colony. The most valuable of them is the 
one named Ichaboe, which is less than a mile in cir- 
cumference. The only inhabitants are the men 
employed by the government to gather the guano, 
which is sold at a very low rate to colonial farmers. 




XXX. 

THE TERRITORY BETWEEN TPIE KEI RIVER AND 
NATAL. 



During recent years the territory between the 
Indwe and Kei rivers on one side and Natal on the 
other has been annexed to the Cape Colony, but 
in some respects it is regarded as a dependency 
rather than as an integral part. It returns two 
members to the house of assembly, but enactments 
of the parliament are not in force in- it unless so 
declared in the body of the enactment or specially 
proclaimed by the governor. It has a penal code 
of its own, and civil cases between Bantu residing in 
it are decided by the European magistrates according 
to Bantu law. The governor, acting by the advice of 
his ministers, has power to legislate for its people 
by proclamation alone. 

It is a very beautiful and fertile tract of land, 
resembling Natal in appearance, though the tempera- 
ture along the coast is not quite so high. On the 
elevated belt just below the Drakensberg the winter 
nights are too cold to be pleasant to Bantu, and 

consequently no one except Bushmen resided there 

400 




SOUTH AFRICAN BOULDER. 



402 BETWEEN THE KEI RIVER AND NATAL. 

permanently until quite recently. There are some 
fine forests on the lower terraces. The rainfall is 
abundant, and the drainage perfect, the rivers on 
account of their great slope speedily carrying off all 
superfluous moisture. The climate is therefore ex- 
ceedingly healthy, though the grass is so rich and 
other vegetation so luxuriant that had the country 
been nearly level fever certainly would be endemic. 

South Africa abounds in cascades. The most 
celebrated of these, next to the Victoria falls of the 
Zambesi, are the great falls of the Orange, the 
Tugela's leap of sixteen hundred feet over the face 
of the Drakensberg, and the fall of the Umgeni a 
few miles from Maritzburg in Natal. But one of the 
most picturesque is in the Tsitsa river, in the territory 
now being treated of. Ordinarily the stream tumbles 
over the precipice in three or four rills, but in times 
of flood a volume of water from four to five hundred 
feet wide drops nearly four hundred feet into a narrow 
chasm. 

When white men first visited this territory, more 
than three hundred years ago, there were no Bantu 
tribes of any importance living in it. A number of 
little clans, each independent of all the others, occu- 
pied the land as far south as the Umzimvubu river, 
and beyond that stream the people were of mixed 
Bantu and Hottentot blood. They had the same 
customs and language as the present inhabitants, 
but the existing tribes were either not yet formed 
or were too small to attract the attention of 
travellers. 

Towards the close of the seventeenth century some 



SETTLEMENT OF I DUTY W A. 403 

shipwrecked sailors found four tribes occupying the 
territory : the Pondos, the Pondomisis, the Tembus, 
and the Kosas. All are there at the present day, 
and the fragments of many others as well. At that 
time they had advanced southward as far as the river 
Kei, and one little offshoot was even found at the 
mouth of the Buffalo. They had partly incorporated 
and partly exterminated the Hottentots to the north, 
and were continuing that process with others in their 
way as they advanced. 

In preceding chapters sufficient has been related 
of these people from that date until the destruction 
of their cattle and grain by the Kosas in 1856 and 
1857. As punishment for the part taken by them 
in that occurrence, in 1858 Kreli and his people were 
driven over the Bashee by a body of the colonial 
armed and mounted police. A few hundred Fingos 
and some Kosas who professed to be attached to the 
British government were then located in the district 
of Idutywa, part of the vacant territory, and an 
English official was stationed there to preserve order 
among them. The rest of the old Kosa country 
between the Kei and Bashee rivers continued to be 
without inhabitants until 1864, when Sir Philip 
Wodehouse believed it necessary to strengthen the 
European element west of the Kei, as the military 
force on the border was being reduced by the imperial 
authorities. 

His first plan was to give out the vacant ground 
as farms to a selected body of young men from 
different parts of the colony, but as the British 
government emphatically refused to extend its do- 



404 BETWEEN THE KEI RIVER AND NATAL. 

minion in South Africa he was obliged to relinquish 
that project. He then resolved to make room for 
more farmers within the established border by in- 
ducing some of the Bantu clans there to move east- 
ward. 

In execution of this design it was necessary to 
attempt to turn Kreli from an enemy into a friend, 
and with this view he was offered the districts of 
Kentani and Willowvale, with a pension of ;^ioo a 
year as long as he should behave himself to the satis- 
faction of the governor. The chief joyfully accepted 
the offer, and immediately moved in with his people. 
This of course was no relief to the colony, and the 
Gaikas under Sandile, who were next offered land 
over the Kei in exchange for their location on the 
western side, refused to move. They professed that 
they wished to remain British subjects, but in reality 
their reason for declining the offer was attachment 
to Kreli, their tribal head, whom they thought they 
would be wronging if they took possession of land 
that had once been his. The Tembus of Glen Grey, 
however, and some of the Fingos west of the Keis- 
kama had no such scruples, and they accepted the 
governor's proposal. The former received the dis- 
tricts of Xalanga and Saint Mark's, the latter the 
districts of Tsomo, Nqamakwe, and Butterworth. 

Thus the whole of the land east of the Indwe and 
the Kei was again occupied by a Bantu population. 
British officials were stationed with all these people, 
but as the imperial government would not permit 
the territory to be formally annexed, they were really 
only diplomatic agents. 



ANNEXATION OF TEMBULAND. 405 

Sir Philip Wodehouse's object in removing these 
Bantu was entirely frustrated, for not a rood of ground 
was obtained by the measure for Europeans. The 
Tembus and the Fingos in the colony simply threw 
off swarms, but took care not to abandon any part of 
their locations, and it was not possible for the govern- 
ment to use force to drive them away. 

The main branch of the Tembu tribes lived be- 
tween the Bashee and Umtata rivers. After 1863 
its chief was a man named Gangelizwe, ordinarily 
a gentle-looking and soft-speaking individual, but 
subject to outbursts of violent passion. His great 
wife was a-daughter of the Kosa chief Kreli, and his 
treatment of her was at times so inhuman that her 
father was exasperated to the last degree. There 
was an old feud between the Tembus and the Pondos, 
so that Gangelizwe had an enemy on the other side 
also. In 1875, in a mad fit of rage, he murdered 
one of his concubines, who was an illegitimate niece 
of Kreli and an attendant upon the great wife. His 
enemies on all sides were now ready to fall upon 
him, and as his tribe contained many fragments of 
others whose fidelity could not be depended upon 
in such a quarrel, the chief himself and his councillors 
requested British protection and offered to become 
subjects of the queen. To prevent a disturbance on 
the border the high commissioner consented, and in 
1875 the districts of Elliot, Engcobo, Umtata, and 
Mqanduli were added to the empire in the same 
loose way as those previously mentioned. 

Living on the eastern bank of the Bashee river, 
close to the coast, was a clan called the Bomvana, the 



406 BETWEEN THE KEI RIVER AND NATAL. 

fugitive remnant of a tribe destroyed in the early 
Zulu wars. This clan was nominally attached to the 
Kosa tribe, but it did not destroy its substance in 
1856 and 1857, and was consequently able to give 
shelter to Kreli when he was driven over the Bashee 
in the following year. From that time it was really 
independent, and remained so until 1878. Then the 
country around was involved in a war yet to be 
referred to, and Moni, the chief of the Bomvanas, 
who was too weak to maintain neutrality, applied 
to be received as a British subject. The high com- 
missioner accepted his offer, and took possession of 
the district of Elliotdale, thus bringing the whole 
country between the colonial border and the Umtata 
river more or less authoritatively under the British 
flag. 

It was regarded as being under the protection and 
control of the high commissioner as representing the 
empire, and no part of it was made subject to the 
Cape Colony until 1879, when the districts of Idutywa, 
Tsomo, Nqamakwe, and Butterworth were formally 
annexed. The districts of Kentani, Willowvale, 
Xalanga, Saint Mark's, Elliot, Engcobo, Umtata, 
Mqanduli, and Elliotdale were annexed in 1885. 

The whole of the territory between the Umtata 
and Umzimkalu rivers was allotted to the chief Faku, 
when in 1844 an attempt was made to form a power- 
ful Pondo state. But that attempt was a failure, for 
the upper portion of the territory was nearly un- 
inhabited, and the lower portion was filled with 
refugee clans from the north, some of whom were 
almost as strong as the Pondos themselves. The 



POLICY OF FAKU, 407 

country therefore continued to be convulsed with 
feuds and wars, and Faku became at length only too 
glad to part with his nominal right to a portion of it 
that he might have a chance of conquering and hold- 
ing the rest. 

He first ceded the land along the coast between 
the Umtamvuna and Umzimkulu rivers to Natal, 
thereby getting rid of a number of his opponents, 
and then in 1861 he offered to the Cape government 
nearly two-thirds of the remainder. The line which 
he proposed cut off the Pondomisis — a tribe as old 
as his own and that had never been subject to him 
or his ancestors, — the Bacas, the Hlangwenis, and 
some others of less note, whom he desired to place 
under such control that they could not molest him 
while he subjugated the enemies that would be left 
on his side. 

His offer was not at once accepted, but thereafter 
Sir George Grey and succeeding governors looked 
upon the territory along the base of the Drakensberg, 
north of the proposed line, as waste land at their 
disposal as the highest authority in South Africa. 
Sir George Grey offered a portion of it to Adam 
Kok and his Griquas, if they would remove from 
the Orange Free State, and they accepted it. In 
1862 Sir Philip Wodehouse located them in the 
districts of. Kokstad and Umzimkulu, and from 
them the whole territory north of that which Faku 
retained for himself became known as Griqualand 
East. 

The object of placing the Griquas there was to 
establish a power, acting under British prestige, 



408 BETWEEN THE KEI RIVER AND NATAL. 

believed to be sufficiently civilised to set a good 
example and sufficiently strong to maintain order. 
But the scheme was an utter failure, and in a few 
years Adam Kok was obliged to ask that a British 
officer should be stationed in the country to en- 
deavour to keep the different sections of the in- 
habitants from exterminating each other. 

During the last war between the Orange Free 
State and Moshesh, some Basuto, Batlokua, and 
Fingo clans moved in, and were located by Sir Philip 
Wodehouse in the districts of Mount Fletcher and 
Matatiele. Some freed slaves and colonial blacks 
had previously settled in the district of Maclear. 

Constant quarrels among the various clans at 
length induced the high commissioner to interfere, 
as nearly all the chiefs declared their readiness to 
place themselves under British authority. In 1873 
an officer with the title of resident was sent into the 
country, and the districts of Maclear, Mount Fletcher, 
Tsolo, and Qumbu — the last two occupied by the 
Pondomisi tribe — were taken over. In the following 
year the districts of Matatiele, Kokstad, and Umzim- 
kulu, with Adam Kok's consent, were also taken 
over, as was in 1876 the district of Mount Frere, with 
the consent of the Baca chief Makaula, whose people 
occupied it. These eight districts comprise the whole 
of the territory north of the line proposed by Faku. 
In 1879 they were formally annexed to the Cape 
Colony. In 1886 the district of Mount Ayliff, occu- 
pied by the Xesibes under the chief Jojo, was also 
annexed. It was south of Faku's line, but it became 
a necessity either to take over the Xesibes, or to 



PORT ST. John's. 409 

stand by and see a brave little clan exterminated by 
the Pondos. 

A small tract of land, less than sixteen square 
miles in extent, on the western side of the Umzim- 
vubu river at its mouth, together with the navigable 
part of the stream and the eastern bank from the 
lower ford to the sea, is called the district of Port St. 
John's. The mouth of the Umzimvubu, in common 
with all the streams along the coast, is nearly closed 
by a shifting bar of sand. When heavy rains fall in 
the uplands, a channel is sometimes opened across 
the bar thirty feet and upwards in depth at low water 
of spring tides, but on other occasions the channel is 
often not more than three feet deep. Above the bar 
a sheet of water from two hundred to two hundred 
and fifty yards across, and from twenty to thirty feet 
in depth, extends some eleven or twelve miles, when 
a ford is reached. 

There are other places along the coast where boats 
can effect a landing, but the mouth of the Umzim- 
vubu is the only place worthy the name of harbour 
between East London and Port Natal. The outer 
anchorage is fairly good, and the river is usually 
accessible to boats, coasting vessels, and small 
steamers. The greatest drawback to its use is not 
the difficulty of landing and shipping cargoes, but 
the difficulty of communicating with the back 
country, owing to the ruggedness of the land near 
the coast and the want of a good road. 

In July 1878 the colonial government purchased 
the ground at the mouth of the river from, the Pondo 
chief Nquiliso, and in the following month British 



410 BETWEEN THE KEI RIVER AND NATAL. 

sovereignty was proclaimed over the port. In Sep- 
tember 1884 the district was annexed to the Cape 
Colony. 

The remainder of Pondoland continued under the 
government of its chiefs ten years longer. Constant 
quarrels between different clans, when the defeated 
parties often took refuge in colonial territory and 
caused endless difficulties there, at length made inter- 
ference a matter of necessity. In March 1894 a 
strong body of police was massed on the border, and 
a commissioner was sent into the country, who 
required the chiefs to place themselves and their 
people under British control. The destructive nature 
of maxim guns, as proved in the recent Matabele 
campaign, was just at that time a matter of discus- 
sion by the Pondos, and the chiefs shrank from 
coming into contact with such weapons. They 
agreed to receive pensions in exchange for their 
independence, and the territory was proclaimed part 
of the British dominions. In September 1894 it was 
formally annexed to the Cape Colony, and was 
divided into five districts named Libode, Ngqeleni, 
Umsikaba, Tabankulu, and Bizana. Thus all the 
territory from the Indwe and the Kei on one side to 
the Natal border on the other was brought under 
colonial rule. 

The Bantu in these dependencies have given very 
little trouble during recent years, but there were 
some serious disturbances in several of the districts 
before they became accustomed to European guidance. 

On the 3rd of August 1877 there was a marriage at 
a Fingo kraal just within the Butterworth border, 



NINTH KAFFIR WAR. 4I I 

and two petty Kosa captains, with a small party of 
attendants, crossed over from Kreli's district of Ken- 
tani to partake in the festivities. On such occasions 
custom demands that all who attend are to be made 
welcome. In the evening, when the guests were 
excited with dancing and drinking millet beer, a 
quarrel arose, no one afterwards was able to tell 
exactly how or why. At any rate the Kosas were 
ranged on one side and the Fingos on the other, and 
they used their sticks so freely that the two captains 
were badly bruised and one of their attendants was 
killed. The visitors were then driven over the border. 

Strong bands of Kosas immediately mustered to 
avenge the insult offered to their friends, and began 
to sweep off the Fingos' cattle. The excitement on 
both sides soon became so great that the efforts of 
the officials to restore order were unavailing. The 
police were sent to the front, the colonial volunteers 
were called out, and an imperial regiment of the line 
marched to the border. Several sharp actions were 
fought with Kreli's people, who lost some seven 
hundred men, and then suddenly fled into Pondoland. 

In the belief that the disturbance was over, the 
volunteers were now permitted to go to their homes ; 
but they were hardly disbanded when the Kosas 
returned and attacked the police. In December 
Kiva, a relative of Kreli, crossed the Kei, and 
appealed to the Kosas in the colony to support the 
head of their tribe. Most of them, with the chief 
Sandile, responded to the appeal, and the country 
was involved in the ninth Kaffir war. 

In February 1878 the colonial camp at Kentani was 



412 BETWEEN THE KEI RIVER AND NATAL. 

attacked by about five thousand Kosas, who charged 
in dense masses, but were mown down by a fire from 
heavy guns. Both KreH and Sandile were present in 
the engagement. The principal column was led by 
the tribal priest, who had performed certain cere- 
monies which caused the warriors to believe that they 
were invulnerable ; but this feeling of confidence 
being destroyed, they gave way to despair. When 
they broke and fled, the volunteer cavalry and the 
Fingos pursued and prevented them from rallying. 

As far as Kreli was concerned the battle of Ken- 
tani was a decisive one. He did not attempt any 
further resistance, but with his adherents at once 
crossed the Bashee. After the conclusion of peace a 
small location was assigned to him in Elliotdale, and 
there he spent the remainder of his life. 

West of the Kei the Kosas held out for many 
months, but at length Sandile was killed in action, 
and they then submitted. 

In October 1880, just after the Basuto tribe rose in 
rebellion, the Pondomisis in the districts of Tsolo 
and Oumbu, the Basuto in the districts of Mount 
Fletcher and Matatiele, and the Tembus in the 
districts of Saint Mark's, Xalanga, and Engcobo rose 
also against the Europeans. They committed some 
atrocious murders — notable among which was the 
treacherous massacre of the magistrate Hamilton 
Hope and the clerks Henman and Warrene by the 
Pondomisi chief Umhlonhlo, — and they destroyed 
much property, but within four months they were 
completely subdued by a combined force of burghers 
and rival Bantu. 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 4I3 

The territory is now divided into two chief magis- 
tracies. One of these consists of the districts of 
Idutywa, Butterworth, Nqamakwe, Tsomo, Kentani, 
Willowvale, Xalanga, ElHot, St. Mark's, Engcobo, 
Umtata, Mqanduli, ElHotdale, Libode, Ngqeleni, 
Port St. John's, Umsikaba, Tabankulu, and Bizana. 
It is presided over by an officer termed the chief 
magistrate of Transkei, Tembuland, and Pondoland, 
and in each of the districts there is a subordinate 
magistrate. The other consists of the districts of 
Maclear, Mount Fletcher, Tsolo, Qumbu, Mount Frere, 
Matatiele, Kokstad, Umzimkulu, and Mount Ayliff, 
and is termed the chief magistracy of Griqualand 
East. It is provided with a similar staff of officials. 

The population of the territory consists at present 
of about seven hundred thousand Bantu, seven thou- 
sand Hottentots and mixed breeds, and fourteen 
thousand Europeans. The latter are government 
officials, missionaries, traders, and farmers on the 
highlands under the Drakensberg and on ground 
purchased from Griquas. The chiefs retain consider- 
able judicial power, are regarded as officials, and are 
in receipt of salaries, for it would be useless to 
attempt to govern the people if they were ignored. 
Persons charged with very serious crimes are tried 
before a judge on circuit according to colonial law, 
and in civil cases there is an appeal from the courts 
of the resident magistrates to a court composed of 
the chief magistrate and two assessors. 

The only direct tax paid is one of ten shillings a 
year on each hut, which brings in sufficient to defray 
the ordinary cost of government, including a con- 



414 



BETWEEN THE K EI RIVER AND NATAL. 



siderable sum expended on mission schools. A 
strong police force is needed, but against that expen- 
diture may be set trading licenses and the customs 
duties on goods sold. 

The rate of increase of the population is amazing 
now that all the checks that kept it in bounds in 
ancient times have been removed. 

As far as can be ascertained, there is nothing like 
it out of South Africa. The food of the people 
consists of maize or millet, with pumpkins, sweet 
cane, curdled milk, and occasionally flesh plainly 
cooked. This simple diet, with living mostly in the 
open air, tends to keep them in robust health, and 
every girl without exception is married. 




XXXI. 

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 

Since the management of its affairs has been in 
the hands of its own people the Cape Colony has 
made an enormous stride in prosperity. Its principal 
industries are still pastoral and agricultural, owing to 
the nature of the greater part of the country. 

The Karoo plains, thinly speckled with succulent 
plants, are covered with flocks of merino sheep and 
Angora goats, which are kept up to a high standard 
by the importation of the best foreign blood, and the 
basin of the Orange river, carpeted in good seasons 
with long grass, supports large herds of horned 
cattle. In these parts of the colony agriculture is 
only possible where there is running water, but a 
great deal of labour has been expended in making 
reservoirs from which gardens and orchards can be 
irrigated, and recently much success has attended the 
sinking of artesian wells. 

On the first and second terraces from the southern 
coast and in the districts adjoining the eastern border 
the rainfall is ample, and agriculture is carried on 
conjointly with cattle-breeding. Wheat and maize 



41 6 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY, 

are the principal crops, but oats are extensively- 
grown for horses, and almost every kind of vegetable 
and fruit is abundant. 

In the south-western angle of the colony — the part 
settled in the seventeenth century — the cultivation of 
wheat and the vine is carried on. Sufficient wheat 
indeed is not at present grown, even in favourable 
seasons, for home consumption and the supply of 
shipping, because the farmers have not been able to 
keep pace with the sudden and rapidly increasing 
demand caused by the mining industry in the north ; 
but there can be little doubt that in course of time 
much more will be produced. The quality of the 
wines and spirits made has been much improved of 
late years, though these articles do not yet command 
a ready sale in the English market. 

Ostriches have been tamed, and their feathers form 
an important item in the trade returns. On the other 
hand, skins of wild animals have quite disappeared, 
for the large game with which the country once 
teemed has been exterminated. Ivory also has 
greatly fallen off, and the little that is now exported 
is brought from the distant interior of the continent. 

In 1852 rich copper mines were opened in the 
district of Namaqualand, and the part of the colony 
previously regarded as the least valuable has ever 
since been contributing its mineral wealth to the 
general prosperity. 

On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that 
South Africa is subject to many drawbacks. Long 
and severe droughts sometimes occur over very ex- 
tensive portions of its surface, when everything green 



DRAWBACKS TO AGRICULTURE. 417 

perishes, and animals of all kinds die off in great 
numbers. Sometimes, though rarely, these droughts 
produce actual famine among the inhabitants, 
especially among the coloured people, who are too 
improvident to lay by anything for a day of distress. 

The mild climate also favours insect life, so that the 
farmers and fruitgrowers often have to contend with 
difficulties unknown in Central and Northern Europe. 
Myriads of caterpillars sometimes devastate the 
cultivated land, and vast swarms of locusts appear, 
when before them the country may be as the garden 
of the Lord, but behind them it is a naked desert. 

The cattle also are subject to various diseases. In 
the summer months, except in a few localities, horses 
require to be stabled at night, or they contract a sick- 
ness which nearly always ends in death. Lungsick- 
ness and red water often create havoc among herds of 
horned cattle, and other diseases of a less deadly 
nature are common. During the year 1896 there was 
much suffering in large areas of the colony from the 
effects of drought and locusts, and the runderpest ia 
still threatening to cross the Orange river from the 
region to the north, where it has destroyed nearly all 
the cattle. 

In 1895 the territory previously known as British 
Bechuanaland was annexed to the Cape Colony. The 
Keate award was hardly delivered when the clans cut 
off by it from the South African Republic began to 
quarrel with each other, and their feuds continued 
with hardly any intermission until the British flag 
was hoisted at Pretoria. Then for a time there was 
comparative order, because the Transvaal authorities 

28 



41 8 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 

favoured the strongest chiefs and the mihtary force in 
the country commanded respect. 

When the repubHc was restored the old quarrels 
began afresh, and soon became more bitter than ever. 
Some of the chiefs now professed strong attachment 
to Great Britain, and as a matter of course their rivals 
professed equally strong attachment to the govern- 
ment of the farmers. It is a mistake to suppose that 
these people have a high regard for English justice and 
English benevolence, it is only English power for which 
they have any respect. Why should they like us better 
than other people ? We do as much — even more — 
to destroy their national customs and everything else 
that they hold dear. How is it possible, then, that 
they can love us ? They certainly respect strength, 
and they are always ready to profess attachment to 
that party v/hich can give most. But in cases like 
that of the Bechuana tribes, if one chief declares 
himself a friend of the republic, his rival will most 
certainly announce himself as the devoted adherent 
of the queen. 

At this stage a European renegade suggested to 
the chief with whom he was living that white men 
should be enlisted to fight for him, and as a result 
volunteers were called for, each to receive a farm in 
payment when the war was over. The other side 
adopted the same course, so that bodies of Europeans 
— decidedly of the vagabond type, however — were 
apparently pitted against each other in a cause that 
did not concern them in the least. In reality there 
was no fear of such combatants shedding each other's 
blood, except when an individual made himself par- 



BRITISH BECHUANALAND. 4I9 

ticularly obnoxious ; but it soon became a certainty 
that unless some power intervened the volunteers 
would divide the best part of the country among 
them and- leave little worth having for their em- 
ployers. 

The western border of the South African Republic 
was the base of operations on one side, ajid Pres-ident 
Kruger's government made little or no effort to pre- 
vent its being so used. The burghers of that state 
would not put themselves to trouble to protect clans 
that had thrown off their authority, and they had 
also an excuse that volunteers for the other s"de 
were enlisted at the diamond fields — on British soil 
— with hardly a show of secrecy. This implication in 
the disturbances caused people in England to regard 
the republic as being at the bottom of the whole 
matter, and public opinion supported the government 
in sending out a strong military force under Sir 
Charles Warren to protect the clans from being 
despoiled. 

Meanwhile the volunteers — or freebooters — had 
taken possession of two considerable tracts of ground, 
and set up an independent government on each. One 
was termed the republic of Stellaland, the other the 
land of Goshen. When Sir Charles Warren ap- 
proached, the people of Goshen, instead of prepar- 
ing to resist, dispersed to other parts of South 
Africa, and the people of Stellaland submitted, 
so that there was no necessity to fire a shot in 
anger. 

The expedition, though it had not to fight, was of 
the utmost service to British interests in the country* 



420 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 

It restored the imperial prestige, which had suffered 
so greatly a few years before, and it secured an open 
highway to the interior of the continent. In September 
1885 the territory which had been the scene of the 
disturbances was taken under British sovereignty. 
It was formed into a crown colony, governed by 
an administrator under Her Majesty's high com- 
missioner, and was divided into five magisterial 
districts : Mafeking, Vryburg, Taung, Kuruman, and 
Gordonia. 

The best of the land was set apart as reserves for 
the Bechuana clans, but large tracts are now occupied 
by European farmers, and there is still much open 
ground. It is well adapted for cattle runs, though 
agriculture only succeeds in limited localities, and in 
general there is a scarcity of surface water. No 
minerals of any importance except salt have yet been 
discovered. The climate is exceedingly healthy, and 
though the days in midsummer are unpleasantly 
warm, the nights are invariably cool and enjoy- 
able. 

After the establishment of British authority order 
was observed as well as in any part of the world. A 
railway was constructed from Kimberley, the northern 
terminus of the line through the Cape Colony, directly 
through the province, and is now being continued to 
Buluwayo in Rhodesia. Vryburg and Mafeking, the 
largest European villages in the territory, are on this 
route. In 1895, as already stated, British Bechuanaland 
ceased to be a separate province by being annexed to 
the Cape Colony. 

It is impossible to state the quantity of produce 



EXPORTS, 



421 



that the colony contributes to the commerce of the 
world, because much of what is exported comes from 
the republics, and a little from the territory north of 
the Molopo river. The value of everything that 
was sent out of South Africa through the Cape ports 
during the year that ended on the 30th of June 1896 
was as follows : — 



Gold 


;^8,040,485 


Diamonds 


4,849,868 


Wool 


1,926,082 


Ostrich Feathers 


564,683 


Hides and Skins 


489,147 


Angora Hair ... 


430,712 


Copper Ore 


261,156 


Wine 


20,729 


Dried Flowers ... 


12,745 


Fruit 


9,545 


Horns 


8,847 


Dried Fish 


8,392 


Brandy 


3,960 


Horses ... 


3,421 


Aloes 


3,342 


Argol 


2,339 


Ivory 


2,071 


All other Articles 


110,234 


Total Expo 


rts ... ;^i6,747,758 



These figures show the importance of the mining 
industry of South Africa, as gold, diamonds, and 
copper ore make up nearly four-fifths of the total 
exports. Taking the remaining articles alone into 
consideration, they are now nearly ten times as great 
in value as in 1850. 

The trade passed through the various ports in the 
following proportion : — 



422 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 

Capetown ;^8,4i3,io5 

Port Elizabeth 1,911,404 

East London 862,058 

Port Nolloth 261,315 

Mossel Bay 181,523 

Kjiysna ... ... 7>865 

Port St. John's ... 1,907 

Gold and Diamonds sent by Post ... 5,108,581 



;^i6,747,758 



The imports from abroad amounted in value during 
the year that ended on the 30th of June 1896 to 
;^i 5,98 1,982. 

Altogether these figures, added to those for Natal, 
mean that South Africa has a purchasing power at 
the present time of about eighteen million pounds 
sterling, less the interest on the different public debts 
and on foreign capital invested in the country. The 
bulk of the trade is with Great Britain, and a large 
proportion of it originates in the Cape Colony. 

Excluding the dependencies named in the preced- 
ing chapter, the Cape Colony has now a population of 
about three hundred and eighty thousand Europeans 
and eight hundred and fifty thousand coloured people. 
Of these last, fully three-fifths are Bantu, the others 
are mixed breeds, Asiatics, descendants of freed slaves, 
and Hottentots. All are subject to the same laws, 
except in a few particulars where it has been found 
necessary to make special provision for Bantu com- 
munities, such as the recognition of communal tenure 
of land in locations, the prohibition of the sale of 
spirituous liquors in certain defined areas, and the 
supervision of these people when they live in undue 
number on farms owned by Europeans. 



MISSIONARY LABOURS. 423 

Among the Bantu missionaries of nearly every 
Christian society have been labouring for many years, 
and two or three generations have grown up under 
their care. The result upon the whole is discouraging 
to those who look for high improvement, although a 
considerable advance has been made by a section of 
these people. Where youths have been separated 
from the surroundings of the kraals, and have been 
trained in habits of order, cleanliness, and — as far as 
practicable — industry, the most good has been 
effected. In this direction the Free Church of Scot- 
land led the way, and its noble institution at Love- 
dale, on the western bank of the Tyumie river, is 
now a model which other Christian bodies are 
copying. It has become generally recognised that 
the system of education carried out by most of the 
missionary societies was faulty. Their idea was to 
teach the children of barbarians to read and write, to 
give them a knowledge of grammar and geography, 
of arithmetic and history, and especially to instruct 
them in Christian doctrine and cause them to read 
the Holy Scriptures. The government subsidised 
the schools, and the rivalry among the different 
denominations was so keen that no location of any 
importance was lost sight of. And now, after a vast 
expenditure of energy and money, it is seen that 
education of this kind is by itself of little value, and 
industrial training is coming to be regarded as a 
necessity. 

The mixed breeds, descendants of slaves, and 
Hottentots have also been the objects of missionary 
solicitude, and as they have long been in close contact 



424 



PHESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 



with white people, their mode of Hving is based upon 
the European model. Most of them profess Christi- 
anity. They do the rough work of the farms and 
the towns, but are in general averse to steady labour, 
and are thriftless to the last degree. The instances 
are rare of people of this class accumulating pro- 
perty, though they often have excellent opportunities 
for doing so. 

The Asiatics in the colony are chiefly descendants 




THE boys' school, LOVED ALE MISSIONARY INSTITUTION. 



of people from the Spice islands, who were sent here 
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and are 
commonly termed Malays. Those of pure blood are 
almost — if not wholly — without exception Moham- 
medans. But many Africans and people of mixed 
blood have adopted that creed, and as they have 
intermarried, the Malays present every variety of 
appearance between the pure Asiatic, the pure 
European, and the pure African, while some fluctuate 
between Christianity and Islam. They are decidedly 
of a higher type than the class previously mentioned. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ^2$ 

Many of the men are good mechanics, and the 
amount of property that they hold is considerable. 
They are confined entirely to towns. Some Indians 
from Hindostan have recently migrated to the colony, 
among whom are a few who profess the Roman 
Catholic faith. 

Owing to the zeal of the missionaries, for many 
years greater efforts were made to give a good school 
education to coloured children than to white, and it is 
a lamentable fact that there is at present a large 
section of the European rural population without 
any knowledge of books. This condition of things, 
however, has attracted serious attention of late, and 
it will not be permitted to continue. A great diffi- 
culty in connection with country schools exists in the 
distance between the residences of families on farms, 
but in many instances this is overcome by the 
employment of itinerant teachers. 

In the towns and villages there are public schools, 
each under the joint control of a local board of 
management and the educational department of the 
government, half the cost being defrayed by the 
treasury. Those of the first and second class are 
attended almost exclusively by white children. Then 
there are several colleges in which higher education 
is imparted, and numerous excellent schools con- 
nected with religious societies. The Cape Colony 
has further a university, which is, however, only an 
examining body empowered to confer degrees. 

No expense is spared to bring justice within reach 
of every one. There are ninety-two stipendiary 
magistrates, holding courts in as many districts or 



426 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 

sub-districts into which the colony is divided. All 
petty civil and criminal cases are tried by them. 
The supreme court consists of the chief justice and 
eight puisne judges, but, as two form a quorum, in 
practice three of the judges sit in Grahamstown, three 
in Kimberley, and the others in Capetown. Twice a 
year a judge of the supreme court visits each district 
town, and tries cases which are beyond the juris- 
diction of the magistrates. 

The towns and villages are supplied with public 
libraries aided by government, hardly any are without 
two or three churches of different denominations, and 
banks, insurance offices, newspapers, and benevolent 
institutions are found in nearly all. Municipal 
government — in very rare instances abused — is in 
force in every community of the slightest note. 
Each district has a divisional council, with powers over 
a large area somewhat similar to those of municipal 
councils in the villages. 

Good roads have been made even in the wildest 
parts of the colony, and the rivers on the principal 
routes have been bridged. There is scarcely a 
hamlet that is not now connected with all parts of 
South Africa by the post and the telegraph wire. The 
railway system has been referred to in other chapters, 
and a glance at the map at the beginning of this 
volume will show how extensive are the open lines. 

Very great improvements have been made in the 
harbours, especially in Table Bay. Here in olden 
times the beach, after winter storms, was frequently 
strewn with the wrecks of costly fleets, now ships lie 
in a dock in perfect safety, and a magnificent 



PUBLIC DEBT. 427 

breakwater protects the outer anchorage. The cost 
of these works, including a dry dock capable of con- 
taining a steamer of the first class, has been about 
two and a quarter million pounds sterling to date, 
and the works are still being extended. 

On the coast numerous lighthouses stand as sen- 
tinels to warn seamen of danger by night, and the 
ancient terror of stormy seas off the Cape of Good 
Hope has long since been forgotten. It arose more 
from distance from home in the early days of circum- 
navigating Africa than from the real violence of the 
sea, for that is commonly trifling compared with the 
fury of the North Atlantic. 

The colony is connected with Europe by two sub- 
marine cables, so that anything of importance that 
occurs there one day is known here through the 
newspapers on the next. Splendid steamships carry- 
ing mails and passengers arrive from and leave for 
England weekly, often making the run of six 
thousand miles in less than fifteen days, and the 
passage is certainly one of the pleasantest in the 
world. 

Against the material prosperity which the colony 
has attained within the last forty years must be 
placed a public debt of about twenty-eight million 
pounds sterling, or about £ji per individual colonist, 
if the coloured inhabitants are excluded. That rate 
per head, however, must be reduced by taking into 
account that the coloured people perform the rough 
labour of the country, and that their presence — 
except on the eastern frontier — does not constitute 
a danger : but in what proportion they should be 



RECENT TROUBLES. 420 

classified with the whites as taxpayers it would be 
hard to say. 

Over South Africa, in the eventful year 1896 
hung black and gloomy clouds, brought there by 
drought, locusts, runderpest, the raid of Dr. Jame- 
son, and the Matabele war, but in God's good 
providence they are passing away, and the future 
seems full of good hope. 




CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS.- 

A.D. 

i486. Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by Dias. 

1497. Doubling of the African continent by Vasco da Gama. 

1503. Discovery of Table Bay by Antonio de Saldanha. 

1 5 10. Defeat of Portuguese by Hottentots in Table Valley. 

1591. First visit of English ships to Table Bay. 

1595. First voyage of the Dutch to India. 

i6o2. Formation of the Dutch East India Company. 

1652. Commencement of the European settlement in South 

Africa. 
1655. Introduction of the vine. 

1657. Discovery of the Berg river. 

1658. Introduction of slaves. 

1659. First Hottentot war. 

1660. Discovery of the Elephant river. 

1672. Purchase of territory from Hottentot chiefs. 

1673. Commencement of second Hottentot war. 
1679 Foundation of Stellenbosch. 

1685. Discovery of the copper mines of Namaqualand. 
1688. Arrival of the first Huguenot settlers. 
1700. First occupation of land on the second plateau. 
1 7 13. First outbreak of small-pox. 
1722. Great loss of life by gale in Table Bay. 
1737. Wreck of another fleet in Table Bay. 
1742. First use of Simon's Bay in winter months. 
1746. Foundation of Swellendam. 
1752. Exploration of the country eastward to the Kei. 
1755. Second outbreak of smallpox. 

1761. Exploration of southern part of Great Namaqualand. 
1767. Third outbreak of small-pox. 

431 



432 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 

A.D. 

1779- Commencement of first Kaffir war. 

1 78 1. Arrival of French troops to defend the Cape Colony 
against the English. 

1786. Foundation of Graaff-Reinet. 

[789. Commencement of second Kaffir war. 

1792. Commencement of the Moravian mission. 
1795. Surrender of the Cape Colony to the English. 
1799. Commencement of the London Society's mission. 

Commencement of third Kaffir war. 

1801. Exploration of the southern part of Bechuanaland* 

1803. Restoration of the Cape Colony to the Dutch. 

1806. Second surrender of the Cape Colony to the English. 

1809 Subjection of all Hottentot inhabitants to colonial laws. 

18 12. Fourth Kaffir war. 

1815. Slachter's Nek insurrection. 

1818. Commencement of fifth Kaffir war. 

1820. Arrival of large body of British settlers. 

1822. Commencement of Zulu wars of extermination. 

1824. Erection of first lighthouse on South African coast. 

1830. Settlement of the Matabele in the valley of the Marikwa 

1834. Emancipation of the slaves in the Cape Colony. 

1835. Sixth Kaffir war. 

1836. Beginning of great emigration from the Cape Colony. 

1837. Flight of the Matabele to the country north of the 

Limpopo. 

1838. Dreadful massacres of Europeans by Zulus. 

1840. Subjection of the Zulu tribe to the emigrant farmers. 

1842. Occupation of Natal by a British military force. 

1843. Creation by the British government of Griqua and 

Basuto treaty states. 

1844. Creation of Pondo treaty state. 

1846. Commencement of seventh Kaffir war. 

1847. Creation of the province of British Kaffraria. 

1848. Proclamation of British sovereignty over the territory 

between the Orange and Vaal rivers. 

1850. Commencement of eighth Kaffir war. 

185 1. Commencement of first Basuto war. 

1852. Acknowledgment by Great Britain of the independence 

of the South African Republic. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 433 

A.D. 

1854. Abandonment by Great Britain of the Orange River 
Sovereignty. 

Establishment of the Orange Free State. 

Introduction of a representative legislature in the Cape 

Colony. 
1858. Second Basuto war (first with the Orange Free State). 
1865. Commencement of third Basuto war. 

Annexation of British Kaffraria to the Cape Colony. 

1867. Commencement of fourth Basuto war. 

1868. Annexation of Basutoland to the British Empire. 

1869. Discovery of diamonds in South Africa. 

1 87 1. Creation of the province of Griqualand West. 

1872. Introduction of responsible government in the Cape 

Colony. 
1877. Annexation of the South African Republic to the British 
Empire, 

Commencement of ninth Kaffir war. 

1879. British conquest of Zululand. 

1S80. Annexation of Griqualand West to the Cape Colony. 

Commencement of fiUh Basuto war. 

1 881. Recovery of independence by the South African Republic. 

1884. Commencement of the German Protectorate of the 

western coast belt north of the Orange river. 

1885. Creation of the province of British Bechuanaland. 

1886. Opening of extensive gold-fields in the South African 

Republic. 

1887. Annexation of Zululand to the British Empire. 

1889. Grant of a charter to the British South Africa Company. 

1893. Introduction of responsible government in Natal. 

Defeat of the Matabele by the British South Africa 

Company. 

1894. Annexation of Pondoland to the Cape Colony. 

1895. Annexation of British Bechuanaland to the Cape Colony. 

1896. Year of troubles. Insurrection at Johannesburg. Inva- 

sion of the South African RepubHc by the British 
South Africa Company's forces under Dr. Jameson. 
Terrible loss of life and property by explosion of 

29 



434 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS, 

dynamite at Johannesburg. Insurrection in Rhodesia. 
Great distress in many localities from drought and 
ravages of locusts. Almost complete destruction of 
cattle by runderpest in a vast extent of territory. 
Foundering at sea of a passenger steamer from the 
Cape to England, and loss of all on board except 
three individuals. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 



When in February, 1897, the last paragraph of the 
preceding chapter was written, there was every 
appearance of a return of prosperity to South Africa. 
But before the close of that year the political sky 
again became charged with heavy clouds, which have 
since burst with fury upon the land. 

Dr. Jameson's raid into the South x^frican Republic 
at the close of 1895 caused the government of that 
state to devote all its resources to the increase of its 
military strength. It had not been neglectful in that 
respect before, and it would almost certainly have 
been able to suppress the insurrection at Johannes- 
burg, even had its opponents there been' armed and 
ready to unite with the force from outside, which was 
not the case. But now vast sums of money were ex- 
pended in the importation of munitions of war and 
in the construction of forts, until the whole of the 
burghers were armed with the most perfect modern 
weapons, Johannesburg, with its people utterly 
defenceless, lay commanded by the great guns of 
a battery, and Pretoria was protected as if it had 
been in the condition of Metz or Strassburg. 

This, which seemed to the republican government 
435 



43^ SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

to be merely a prudent measure to maintain its 
independence if again assailed, was regarded by 
Great Britain in another light. Here was a state 
making itself the first military power in South 
Africa — a position that could not be conceded to it 
if English prestige was to be preserved. Hence the 
British garrisons were strengthened, and a word 
that had not been pronounced for thirteen years 
was used to denote the relationship of the republic 
to the British government, the word suzerainty. 

By far the greatest benefit that the burghers of the 
republic regarded as gained by them in the sub- 
stitution of the convention of 1884 for that of 188 1 
was the elimination of that word, with whatever it 
meant or might be made to mean, for nobody could 
define its exact purport. From the moment it was 
used again — in 1897 — ^^ difficulty of negotiation 
was increased a hundredfold, for to the mind of the 
South African burghers of Dutch descent it seemed 
as if Great Britain had resolved to withdraw from the 
agreement she had entered into in 1884, and by some 
means or other to destroy the independence of the 
northern republic. 

In Johannesburg the English residents were seeth- 
ing with discontent. Apart from the humiliation 
caused by their want of success in 1895-6, and their 
being deprived of arms, they had many grievances. 

They had not even a real miunicipal government, 
while the want of proper sanitary arrangements 
caused not only much discomfort, but often much 
sickness, and a death-rate considerably in excess 
of what under other circumstances it would have 
been. This was due to the resolution of the govern- 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 437 

meriL to withhold even hmited power from all except 
burghers of the state. 

Then there was the question of language in public 
schools frequented by English children. The govern- 
ment, forgetting what resentment this question had 
caused among the Dutch colonists when an attempt 
was made to force the use of English upon them, 
made Dutch the principal medium of instruction, and 
although in course of time this rule was relaxed, the 
bitter feeling it engendered could not easily pass away. 

A system of granting monopolies — especially one 
for the manufacture of dynamite, which raised the 
price of that necessary article in mining to an 
exorbitant rate — was another grievance, though 
perhaps not much felt except by the proprietary 
classes. 

Taxation was so adjusted as to fall chiefly upon 
those inhabitants who were not burghers, and by it 
the cost of living was enormously increased. 

The means of obtaining the right of voting for the 
head of the state and members of the first volks- 
raad were so restricted that practically Englishmen 
could not obtain that privilege. 

To those accustomed to the highly trained and 
splendidly conducted body of men who preserve 
order in English cities, the police appeared to be a 
mere rabble, and many of its members were believed 
to be corrupt to the last degree. This vice was also 
said to extend to not a few men in higher positions. 

Petitions had been sent to the volksraad asking 
for more liberal treatment, and had been rejected ; 
even worse, had been received with taunts by in- 
dividual members. 



43 S SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER, 

Without going further, a position existed here 
which enabled men of influence to bend the masses 
easily to their will. An Englishman not allowed to 
carry arms, with the great guns of a fortress frowning 
upon him, paying taxes without being represented in 
the government, unable to send his children to a 
public school, liable to abuse from an ignorant and 
corrupt policeman, taunted by an equally ignorant 
member of the volksraad when petitioning for 
redress ; such a man needed very little persuasion 
to induce him to follow any one in opposition to the 
rulers of the land. 

There is in brief one side of the question ; but it 
must be looked at also from the opposite direction. 
To the foregoing observations the government at 
Pretoria would reply as follows : 

In no other country in the world is a foreign 
language the medium of instruction in state-aided 
schools. Dutch is the language of the South African 
Republic, and yet English children are taught in 
their own tongue Tip to a certain standard. 

The monopolies complained of and the high import 
duties on all articles that can be produced in the 
republic are to encourage home industries. Other 
countries — notably the United States — have protective 
tariffs for the same purpose. 

The system of taxation is not unfair. The burghers 
have military duties to perform without payment, 
which fully compensate for the smaller amount of 
money they contribute. 

The right of voting carries with it duties which the 
great majority of Englishmen would not perform. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 439 

The privilege cannot be given without adoption of 
the burghers' burdens as well as their rights. 

The police are the best that can be obtained, and it 
is unreasonable to expect from them the demeanour 
of those of London. 

If corruption existed to the extent that is stated 
there would be no reason for further opposition, 
because all that is asked for could be bought. The 
existence of corruption in high places implies the 
existence of corrupters as well. 

The taunting language of a few individuals should 
not be regarded as an offence committed by a com- 
munity, neither has it been confined to one side only. 

Nearly all other Europeans are satisfied and submit 
without demur to the government of the country : it 
is only Englishmen who complain. 

There is in brief the other side of the question also, 
and every reader must decide for himself as to the 
merits of the respective cases. But at the back of 
each stands a principle which is really the governing 
factor of the whole position. According to the 
authorities at Pretoria the South African Republic 
is a sovereign state, subordinate to Great Britain only 
to the extent that treaties with foreign powers are 
subject to the Queen's approval before they can be 
put in force, and they rest this claim upon the wording 
of the convention of 1884. They therefore maintain 
that they have the same right with regard to English- 
men in the republic as. for instance, Germany 
exercises with regard to Englishmen in Metz or 
Berlin, and whether it is prudent or not for them to 
exercise such power is for them to decide, the fact 
that the number of Englishmen in the German cities 



440 SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

being excee(Jingly small in comparison with the whole 
population, whereas the number on the goldfields 
approaches that of the burghers themselves, not 
affecting the question of right. According to this 
view Great Britain can interfere only under inter- 
national law on behalf of any of her subjects who 
believe themselves to be suffering wrongs, in precisely 
the same way that France or Germany could. 

On the other hand. Great Britain maintains that 
the republic is really a subordinate state, moving in 
the political sphere not as a primary but as a secondary 
body, and not justified in attempting to carry out a 
policy opposed to that of the power whose interests 
and responsibilities in South Africa are immeasurably 
greater. 

There is the real question at issue — a question which 
sooner or later must have caused an appeal either to 
arbitration or arms, for neither side would recede 
from its position by a hair's-breadth. The claim to 
suzerainty made on behalf of Great Britain in 1897 
brought this forward in a striking manner. 

The negotiations during the present year form a 
mere episode in this contest of principles. They 
originated with the long unrest at Johannesburg, and 
were only brought to a point by a petition to her 
Majesty the Queen from the great body of English- 
men on the goldfields, asking for interference on their 
behalf President Steyn, of the Orange Free State, 
invited Sir Alfred Milner, governor of the Cape 
Colony, and President Kruger, the head of the South 
African Republic, to meet in conference at Bloem- 
fontein, in hope that an amicable arrangement could 
be made. The governor proposed that all uitlanders 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 44I 

(foreigners) should be admitted to full burgher rights 
after a residence of five years in the republic, and 
that they should be allowed a certain number of 
representatives in the volksraad. The president 
declined, as he believed the concession would 
jeopardise the independence of the republic, and the 
conference came to an end. 

By independence President Kruger meant not only 
the retention of a separate flag and administration, 
but the retention of power by the Dutch-speaking 
burghers of the country. To him and to them the 
conversion of the state into an English republic, in 
which they would form a mere party — possibly in 
time a mere minority — signified a loss of indepen- 
dence quite as complete as if the four-coloured flag 
were replaced by the British ensign. 

The volksraad then passed an act to admit uit- 
landers to the franchise after a residence of seven 
years and to increase the number of representatives 
for the districts in which they resided ; but this did not 
satisfy the British government. It is difficult indeed 
to see what advantage would be gained by the intro- 
duction of a few representatives into the volksraad 
with views diametrically opposed to those of the great 
majority of the members, even if they were all 
Englishmen, and it must be remembered that a con- 
siderable proportion of the new electors would be 
natives of continental states far more likely to join 
hands with the old burghers of the republic than 
with those of British blood. 

The negotiations, however, were continued, and at 
one stage an offer was made in practical agreement 
with the governor's proposal, provided the suzerainty 



44^ SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

claim was withdrawn. This was decHned, but no 
exact and formal demand embodying everything that 
Great Britain required was presented in its place, and 
the government at Pretoria was left to believe that no 
matter what it conceded short of independence some 
fresh claim upon it would be made. 

Meantime troops were being massed on the borders 
of the state, chiefly in Natal, and an enormous force 
was in preparation to be sent to South Africa. A 
great proportion of the British press" was advocating 
war as the only means by which the supremacy of 
England could be maintained. Under these circum- 
stances writing despatches was a waste of time. The 
Dutch-speaking people of South Africa are not sus- 
ceptible of coercion unless by an absolutely irresistible 
force, and the presence of a few thousand soldiers 
in a threatening position was of itself sufficient to 
prevent them from making any further efforts in the 
direction of peace. 

On the 7th of October, 1899, the British reserves 
were called out, which was a practical intimation that 
military force was to be resorted to. As such it was 
received by the governments of the two republics, 
now in the closest alliance, and on the 9th an 
ultimatum was handed to the British agent at 
Pretoria demanding the removal of the forces from 
the border, and an engagement that the troops then 
on the way out should not be landed in South Africa, 
failure of compliance before the evening of the nth 
to b^ regarded as a declaration of war. The object 
of the ultimatum was to bring on hostilities, which 
were now inevitable, before the arrival of the main 
body of the army, and thus open a way for the 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 443 

destruction of the troops in Natal. The reply of the 
British government was the recall of its agent, and at 
five o'clock in the evening of the nth of October, 
1899, a state of war existed between Great Britain 
and the two republics. 

For South Africa this event is most deplorable. 
The situation is this : The people of the two republics, 
excluding the English residents on the goldfields, are 
animated by a feeling of intense devotion to their 
cause, and practically every male capable of bearing 
arms is in the field, while every woman is urging her 
husband and sons and brothers to fight to the death. 
With the uitlanders that aid them they can put from 
forty to fifty thousand combatants in action. 

With them is the sympathy of a large proportion of 
the people of the Cape Colony, people who are loyal 
to the Queen in everything except shedding the 
blood of their kinsmen. How they will act remains 
to be seen : they are placed in the most trying 
position in which men and women can be. The 
many colonists of English blood who are intermarried 
with the older stock are also in peculiar distress : 
with them it is a strife as between brothers. 

Many thousands of the inhabitants of Johannesburg 
have been obliged to leave their homes and their 
employment and seek refuge in Natal and the Cape 
Colony, where the misery of some of them is appalling. 

The destruction of property that has been caused 
is a matter of less importance. Bridges can be re- 
built, rails can be renewed, the great project of the 
Right Hon. Cecil J. Rhodes for communication 
between Capetown and the far north will only be 
a little retarded ; but the passions that have been 



444 SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 

aroused will not be so quickly allayed, and animosity 
between men of Dutch and English speech who must 
continue to live side by side will not so speedily be 
replaced by friendship. 

The native tribes between the Zambesi and Cape 
Agulhas, outnumbering the Europeans as six to one, 
are looking probably with satisfaction at the deadly 
quarrel between men who should be standing shoulder 
to shoulder in working for the good of South Africa. 
No one can say what effect it may have upon them. 
They love neither one party nor the other : the last 
general election in the Cape Colony has proved again, 
if proof was still needed, that they are certainly not 
more attached to the English than to the Dutch. 

That is the condition in South Africa as these lines 
are being written. Of military movements it is too 
soon to speak, for no decisive engagement has yet 
taken place, and the few reverses on each side cannot 
affect the final issue. But already there is mourning 
in many an English and many a South African home, 
and only the great Disposer of events can know what 
sorrow there is yet in store. 

This chapter cannot be concluded without refer- 
ence to one circumstance that must cause a feeling in 
Englishmen everywhere of satisfaction and pride : 
the springing to the aid of the mother country of her 
children beyond the seas. From the wide Dominion 
of Canada in the west and the island continent of 
Australia in the east bands of stalwart volunteers are 
hastening to take their places at the side of regiments 
from England and Scotland, from Wales and Ireland, 
and to show to the world that the British Empire 
is one. 



INDEX. 



Abagaza tribe : particulars con- 
cerning, 382 

Adam Kok : particulars concern- 
ing, 228, 230, 231, 232, 233, 
234, 235, 247, 318, 407, 408 

d' Almeida, Francisco : is killed in 
Table Valley, 15 

Angoni tribe : particulars con- 
cerning, 382 

Angora hair : export of, 421 

Angra Pequena : discovery of, 8 

Anti-convict agitation : account 
of, 250 

Arabs on the eastern coast : par- 
ticulars concerning, 377, 385 

Asiatics : introduction into Cape 
Colony, 35 and 425 ; introduc- 
tion into Natal, 297 



B 

Bantu : description of, 5 ; suffer 
severely from small-pox, 82 ; see 
Abagaza, Angoni, Bapedi, Bara- 
mapulana, Basuto, Bathoen, 
Bomvana, Cetywayo, Damara, 
Dingan, Dinizulu, Faku, Fingos, 
Gaika, Gangelizwe, GunguK- 
hana, Hintsa, Hlubi, Kaffir, 
Khama, Kreli, Langalibalele, 
Lewanika, Lobengula, Makana, 
Manikusa, Mantati, Matabele, 
Matsheng, Moselekatse, Mo- 
shesh, Ndlambe, Ovampo, 



Panda, Sandile, Sebele, Sek- 
homi, Sekukuni, Setyeli, Tsha- 
ka, Umtasa, Umzila, Zulu 

Bapedi tribe : war with, 340 

Baramapulana tribe : war with, 
336 

Barberton : foundation of, 349 

Barreto, Francisco : expedition of, 
380 

Basutoland : description of, 263 ; 
is annexed to the British Em- 
pire, 321 ; is attached to the 
Cape Colony, 330 ; is retrans- 
ferred to the imperial govern- 
ment, 331 ; present condition 
of, 331 

Basuto treaty state : creation of, 
228 ; destruction of, 248 

Basuto tribe : origin of, 171 

Basuto wars : account of, 259, 
317, 320, 321, 331 

Batavian Republic : constitution 
of the Cape Colony under, 129 

Bathoen, chief of the Bangwaketsi 
tribe : particulars concerning, 

391 

Beira : particulars concerning, 
358, 376, 384, 387, 388 

Berea : battle of, 265 

Berg Damaras : particulars con- 
cerning, 396 

Bethelsdorp mission station : 
foundation of, 130 

Birkenhead : wreck of the, 254 

Black circuit : account of, 146 

Bloemfontein : foundation of, 235 



445 



446 



INDEX. 



Bloemhof arbitration : particulars 

concerning, 325 
Blueberg : battle of, 134 
Bomvana clan : account of, 405, 

406 
Boomplaats : battle of, 249 
Boshof, J. N. : presidency of, 

315 
Brand, J. H. : presidency of, 319 
British Bechuanaland : account 

of, 417 ; is annexed to the Cape 

Colony, 420 
British Kaffraria : creation of the 

province, 244 ; is annexed to 

the Cape Colony, 289 
British Protectorate : account of, 

391 

British settlers of 1820 : account 
of, 156 

Bronkhorst Spruit : action at, 
346 

Buluwayo : particulars concern- 
ing, 370, 374, 376 

Burgers, T. F. : presidency of, 

339 
Burgher senate. Cape Colony : 
creation of, 117; abolition of, 

Bushmen : description of, i ; 
references to, 44, 63, 73, ZZ 



Caledon, Lord : administration of, 

139 

Cape Colony : foundation of, 25 ; 
first surrender to the English, 
113; restoration to the Dutch, 
128; second surrender to the 
English, 135 ; cession to Great 
Britain, 146; industries of, 415 ; 
trade of, 421 ; population of, 
422 ; courts of justice, 425 ; 
schools, 425 ; public libraries, 
426 ; steamship communication 
with Europe, 427 ; public debt, 
427 

Cape of Good Hope : discovery 
of, 10 

Capetown : descriptions of, 55, 83 



Castle of Good Hope : erection of, 

40 
Cathcart, Sir George : adminis- 
tration of, 2515 
Cattle farmers : origin of, 49 
Census of Basutoland in 1890, 331 
Census of the Cape Colony : in 
1700, 52 ; in 1 791, 97 ; in 
1805, 132; in 1819, 155 
Census of the Orange Free State 

in 1890, 328 
Cetywayo, Zulu chief: references 

to, 302, 303, 304, 309, 310 
Charter : foundation of, 358 
Chartered Company, British South 

Africa : creation of, 357 
Churches : particulars concerning, 

39, 53, 11, 87, loi, 159, 237 
Coal : particulars concerning, 300, 

328, 350, 354, 389 . . 
Cole, Sir Lowry : administration 

of, 179 
Colonists : particulars concerning 

the first, 32 
Complaints of the burghers against 

the government of the Cape 

Colony, 92 
Constitution of the Cape Colony : 

description of, 271 
Copper ore : export of, 416, 421 
Council of advice. Cape Colony : 

establishment of, 160 
Courts of law, Cape Colony : 

particulars concerning, 176 
Cradock, Sir John : administration 

of, 142 
Craig, General : administration 

of, 119 
Customs union : references to, 

328, 354 



Damara tribe : particulars con- 
cerning, 396 

Delagoa Bay : references to, 74> 
197, 225, 379, 381, 382, 383, 

384 
Depopulation of territory between 
the Orange and Limpopo rivers, 
account of, 165 



INDEX, 



447 



Destruction of all their property 
by the Kosas : account of, 280 
I?/ se^. 

Diamond mines : annexation to 
the British empire, 326 ; an- 
nexation to the Cape Colony, 
326 

Diamonds : discovery of, 322 ; 
export of, 421 

Dias, Bartholomeu : voyage of, 8 

Dingan, Zulu chief: references to, 
167, 205, 207, 208, 214, 215, 
217 

Dinizulu, Zulu chief: references 
to, 310, 312 

Dominican missions : account of, 
380 

Drakenstein : settlement of, 5 1 

D' Urban, Sir Benjamin : adminis- 
tration of, 179 

Durban : description of, 299 

Dutch East India Company : 
formation of, 19 ; forms a 
refreshment station in Table 
Valley, 25 ; decline of, 90 ; 
insolvency of, 1 1 1 

Dutch language : is prohibited in 
public offices in the Cape Colony, 
158 ; is restored to official 
equality with English, 275 

Dutch reformed church : see 
Churches 

Dutch ships : first voyage to 
India of, 17 



Eighth Kaffir vi^ar : account of, 

251 

English, the : attempt to seize 
the Cape Colony in 1781, but 
fail, 90; conquer it in 1795, 
105 ; restore it to the Dutch in 
1803, 128; conquer it again in 
1806, 135 

English ships : first visit to South 
Africa of, 17 

Etshowe : reJief 01, 308 

Executive council, Cape Colony : 
creation of, 180 



Expansion of the Cape Colony : 
description of, 61 

Exploration of South Africa : 
particulars concerning, 30, 44, 
57, 83 

Exports of South Africa : particu- 
lars concerning, 297, 421 



Faku, Pondo chief : references to, 

225, 230, 406, 407 
Fifth Basuto war : account of, 331 
Fifth Kaffir war : account of, 152 
Fingos : origin of, 164 ; particulars 

concerning, 191, 255 
First Basuto war : account of, 259 
First Hottentot war : account of, 

37 
First Kaffir war : account of, 89 
First Matabele war : account of, 

362 
Form of government of the Cape 

Colony before 1795, 53 > ^t 

present, 271 
Fourth Basuto war : account of, 

321 
Fourth Kaffir war : account of, 143 
French, the : take possession of 

Saldanha Bay, 43; in 1781-3 

defend the Cape Colony against 

the English, 90 



Gaika, Kosa chief : references to, 
99, 123, 131, 151,152, 187,188 

da Gama, Vasco : voyage of, 10 

Game : abundance of in early 
days, 46 

Gangelizwe, Tembu chief: refer- 
ence to, 405 

German immigrants : account of. 
288 

German Protectorate : account of, 

395 
Ginginhlovu : battle of, 308 
Glenelg, Lord : treatment of South 

Africa by, 193 
Gold : discovery of, 349 ; export 

of, 350» 380, 421 



448 



INDEX, 



Government by the Dutch East 
India Company : particulars 
concerning, 74 

van de Graaff, C. J. : administra- 
tion of, 96 

Graaff- Reinet : foundation of, %"] ; 
rebellion of the people, 104, 121 

Grahamstown : foundation of, 145 ; 
is attacked by Kosas, 153 

Great emigration from the Cape 
Colony : causes of, 196 ; account 
of, 195 et seq. 

Grey, Sir George : administration 
of, 279 

Griqua treaty state under Adam 
Kok : creation of, 230 ; destruc- 
tion of, 247 

Griqualand West : annexation to 
the Cape Colony of, 326 

Griquas and emigrant fanners : 
war between, 233 

Guano islands : reference to, 398 

Gungunhana, Gaza chief: refer- 
ence to, 389 

Gwelo : foundation of, 374 

H 

Haarlem, the : is wrecked in 

Table Bay, 21 
Hintsa, Kosa chief : references to, 

152, 189, 190 
Hlobane : disaster at, 307 
Hlubi tribe : account of, 292 
Hoffman, J. : presidency of, 315 
Hottentot settlement at the Kat 

river : account of, 179 
Hottentot wars : account of, 37, 

45 

Hottentots : description of, 2 ; 
first intercourse with Europeans, 
10 ; purchase of territory from, 
42 ; particulars concerning, 25, 
26, 27, 29, 36, 44, 45, 72, 81, 
%"], 103, III, 121, 122, 124, 
130, 140, 141, 174, 178, 179, 
254 

Huguenots: arrival of, 51 

I 
Tmbembesi : battle of, 369 



Immigration from Great Britain : 

account of, 155, 237 

Ingogo : action at, 347 

Inhambane : particulars concern- 
ing, 379, 381, 382, 388 

Inyesane : battle of, 307 

Isandlwana: destruction of Eng- 
lish army at, 305 

J 

Jameson, Dr. L. S. : references 
to, 352, 358, 362, 366, 368, 
370, 372, 375 

Janssens, General J. W. : ad- 
ministration of, 129 

Jesuit missions : account of, 380, 

389 
Johannesburg : foundation of, 349 



K 

KafHr wars : account of, 89, 99, 
123, 142, 152, 188, 240, 251, 
410 

Kaffraria : description of, 400 ; is 
annexed to the Cape Colony, 
406, 408, 410; mode of govern- 
ment, 413 ; population, 413 

Kambula : defence of, 307 

Keate award : account of, 326, 
338 . 

Kentani : battle of, 412 

Khama, Bamangwato chief: re- 
ferences to, 367, 370, 391, 393, 

394 
King-Williamstown : foundation 

of, 191 
Kreli, Kosa chief: references to, 

189, 190, 257, 281, 403, 404, 

411,412 
Kruger, S. J. Paul : references to, 

336, 337, 343, 345, 354, 361, 
419 



Laing's Nek : action at, 347 
Langalibalele, Hlubi chief: re- 
bellion of, 293 
Lanyon, Sir Owen : administra- 
tion of, 343 



INDEX, 



449 



Legislative council, Cape Colony : 

creation of, i8o 
Lewanika, Barotse chief: refe- 
rence to, 363 
Lighthouses : mention of, 427 
Livingstone, Rev. Dr. : reference 

to, 335 
Loan bank : creation of, 98 
Lobengula, Matabele chief: refe- 
rences to, 358, 359, 361, 363, 
364, 365, 366, 368, 369, 370, 

371, 372, 373 

London missionary society : com- 
mences work in South Africa, 
126 ; assumes a hostile attitude 
towards the colonists, 145 ; 
is forsworn by the emigrant 
farmers, 201 

Lovedale missionary institution : 
foundation of, 279 

Lucas, Engelbertus : surrenders a 
fleet of nine ships of war to the 
English, 119 

Lutheran church in Capetown : 
establishment of, loi 

Lydenburg : foundation of, 227 



M 

Macartney, Lord : administration 

of, 120 
Maitland, Sir Peregrine : adminis- 
tration of, 232 
Majuba Hill: defeat of Brilish 

force at, 348 
Makana, Kosa seer : references 

to, 151, 154 
Malays in South Africa : par- 
ticulars concerning, 424 
Malmesbury : foundation of, 79 
Manikusa, Gaza chief: references 

to, 382, 383 
Mantati horde : account of, 165 
Mashonaland : occupation of, 358 
Matabeleland : annexation of, 374 
Matabele tribe : origin of, 169 ; 
references to, 199, 200, 201, 
202, 219. See Lobengula, 
Moselekatse, and First and 
Second Matabele war 



Matsheng, Bamangwato chief : 

reference to, 393 
Mauritius : references to, 39, 71 
Missionary effort : result of, 4, 

186, 291, 423 
Mission societies : localities of 

labour, 173 
de Mist, Ji A. : references to, 

129, 131 
Moffat, Rev. Dr. : reference to, 

170 
Moravian mission : foundation in 

South Africa of, loi 
Moselaketse, Matabele chief: 

references to, 167, 169, 170, 

198, 199, 202, 356 
Moshesh, Basuto chief : references 

to, 171, 173, 228, 230, 236, 

248, 249, 258, 260, 262, 263, 

266, 267, 315, 316, 320, 321, 

330 

Mossamedes : emigration of far- 
mers to, 340 

Mozambique Company : particu- 
lars concerning, 387 

N 

Natal: discovery of, 12; depopu- 
lation of, 164 ; description of, 
204 ; mode of government by 
the emigrant farmers, 219 ; 
is taken in possession by 
British troops, 222 ; popula- 
tion of, 291 ; Indian immi- 
grants, 297 ; constitution of, 
301 ; public debt, 301 

Ndlambe, Kosa chief: references 
to, 99, 123, 130, 131, 143, 150, 
151, 152, 187, 188 

Nederburgh and Frykenius : re- 
ferences to, 97, 103 

Ninth Kaffir war : account of, 
410 



Ohrigstad : foundation of, 227 
Orange Free State : creation of, 

269 ; constitution of, 314 ; 

courts of justice, 315 ; present 

condition of, 327 



30 



450 



INDEX, 



Orange River Sovereignty : crea- 
tion of, 248 ; abandonment of, 
269 
Ostrich feathers : export of, 421 
Ovampo tribe : reference to, 396 



Paarl : description of, 85 

Panda, Zulu chief: references to, 
215, 217, 218, 225, 302 

Paper money : issue of, 92 ; re- 
demption of, 159 

Physical conformation of South 
Africa, 13 

Pietermaritzburg : foundation of, 
215 

van Plettenberg, Joachim : ad- 
ministration of, 86 

Pondo treaty state : creation of, 
230 

Port St. John's : account of, 409 

Portuguese discoveries in South 
Africa : account of, 8 et seq. 

Portuguese troops : action with, 
386 

Potchefstroom : foundation of, 213 

Potgieter, Hendrik : references to, 
198, 201, 210, 213 

Pottinger, Sir Henry : adminis- 
tration of, 242 

Pretorius, Andries : references to, 
213, 214, 222, 249, 260 

Pretorius, M. W. : presidency of, 
318, 336, 345 

Prince Imperial of France : death 
of, 308 

Progress of South African ex- 
ploration in 1 700 : account of, 

57. 
Province of Queen Adelaide : 

creation of, 191 ; abandonment 

of, 193 
Public debt : of Natal, 301 ; of 

the South African Republic, 

354 ; of the Cape Colony, 427 



Queenstown : foundation of, 255 



R 

Railways : particulars concerning, 
300, 328, 353, 376, 383, 386, 
387, 395, 420, 426 

Reitz, F. W. : presidency of, 328 

Retief, Pieter : references to, 201, 
204, 205, 208 

Rhodes, Right Hon. C. J. : re- 
ferences to, 356, 358 

van Riebeek, Jan : references tc> 
22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 39 

Rondebosch : is occupied and 
named, 31 

Rorke's Drift : gallant defence of, 
306 



S 



de Saldanha, Antonio : voyage of, 

Salisbury : particulars concerning, 

358, 360, 374, 387 
Sandile, Kosa chief: references 

to, 188, 239, 253, 281, 282, 284, 

411, 412 
Sand River Convention : account 

of, 261 
Schoemansdal : abandonment of, 

337 
Schools : particulars concerning, 

53, 79, 86, 160, 237, 253, 425 
Scurvy : effects of, 23 
Sebele, Bakwena chief: reference 

to, 391 
Second Basuto war : account of, 

317 
Second Hottentot war : account 

of, 45 
Second Kaffir war : account of, 

99 
Second Matabele war : account of, 

375 

Sekhomi, Bamangwato chief: re- 
ference to, 393 

Sekukuni, Bapedi chief : references 

to, 340, 344 
Sena : particulars concerning, 379, 

380, 381, 382, 388 
Setyeli, Bakwena chief : references 

to. 335. 392, 393 



INDEX. 



451 



Seventh Kaffir war : account of, 
240 

Shangani : battle of, 369 

Sheikh Joseph : particulars con- 
cerning, 36 

Shepstone, Sir T. : administration 
of, 342 

Shipwrecks in Table Bay : account 
of, 76 

Simonstown : foundation of, 77 ; 
description of, 85 

Sixth Kaffir war : account of, 188 

Slachter's Nek rebellion : account 
of, 149 

Slaves : introduction of, 33 ; eman- 
cipation of, 180 et seq. 

Small-pox : ravages of, 71, 80 

Smith, Sir Harry : administration 
of, 244 

Sofala : particulars concerning, 
377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 
388 

Somerset, Lord Charles : admini- 
stration of, 148 

South African Republic : indepen- 
dence acknowledged by Great 
Britain, 262 ; description of, 
332 ; dissensions of people, 333 ; 
dealings with Bantu, 334 ; is 
annexed to the British empire, 
342 ; recovers its independence, 
349 ; dissensions in, 350 ; form 
of government, 354 ; public 
debt, 354 ; population, 355 

van der Stel, Simon : administra- 
tion of, 50 

van der Stel, W , A. : oppressive 
administration uf, 65 ; is recalled 
by the directors, 70 

Stellenbosch : foundation of, 50 ; 
description of, 85 

Stockenstrom, Sir Andries : refer- 
ences to, 192, 193 

St. Helena Bay : is visited and 
named, 10 

Swaziland : references to, 349, 

353 
Swellendam : foundation of, 79 ; 
description of, 85 ; rebellion of 
the inhabitants of, 104 



Table Bay : discovery of, 13 ; im- 
provement of, 77, 426 

Table Mountain : receives its 
name, 13 

Taxation of the colonists in the 
olden times : system of, 55 

Tete : particulars concerning, 379, 
380, 381, 387, 388, 389 

Third Basuto war : account of, 
320 

Third Kaffir war : account of, 
123 

Traffic in the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries : account 
of, 55 

Treaties : with Andries Water- 
boer, 187 ; with Moshesh, 228 ; 
with Adam Kok, 230, 235 ; 
with Faku, 230 ; between the 
British and Portuguese govern- 
ments, 386 

Tshaka, Zulu chief: references to, 
162, 166, 167 

Tulbagh : foundation of, 79 

Tulbagh basin : settlement of, 61 

Tulbagh, Rvk : administration of, 
80 

Tuli : foundation of, 358 



U 

Uitenhage : foundation of, 132 
Ulundi : battle of, 309 
Umtali : foundation of, 360 
Umtasa, chief : reference to, 385 
Umzila, Gaza chief: reference to, 

383 
Uys, Dirk Cornelis : death of, 

211 
Uys, Pieter : death of, 211, 307 



Victoria : foundation of, 358, 360 
Viervoet : battle of, 259 
Volksraad : of the Orange Free 

State, 314 ; of the South African 

Republic, 354 



452 



INDEX, 



W 

Walfish Bay : particulars con- 
cerning, 398 

War between the emigrant farmers 
and the Zulus : account of, 208 

Wilson, Major Allan : death of, 
372 

Winburg : foundation of, 201 

Wodehouse, Sir Philip : adminis- 
tration of, 320 

Wolseley, Sir Garnet : administra- 
tion of, 308, 344 

Wool : export of, 421 



Yonge, Sir George 
tion of, 126 



administra- 



Zululand : history of, 302 ; is 
annexed to the British empire, 
312 

Zulu tribe: references to, 163, 
205, 215, 225, 302 

Zulu wars : account of, 208, 304 



The Story of the Nations. 



Messrs. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS take pleasure in 
announcing that they have in course of publication, in 
co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, of London, a 
series of historical studies, intended to present in a graphic 
manner the stories of the different nations that have 
attained prominence in history. 

In the story form the current of each national life is 
distinctly indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy 
periods and episodes are presented for the reader in their 
philosophical relation to each other as well as to universal 
history. 

It is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to 
enter into the real life of the peoples, and to bring them 
before the reader as they actually lived, labored, and 
struggled — as they studied and wrote, and as they amused 
themselves. In carrying out this plan, the myths, with 
which the history of all lands begins, will not be over- 
looked, though these will be carefully distinguished from 
the actual history, so far as the labors of the accepted 
historical authorities have resulted in definite conclusions. 

The subjects of the different volumes have been planned 
to cover connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive 
epochs or periods, so that the set when completed will 
present in a comprehensive narrative the chief events in 
the great STORY OF THE Nations ; but it is, of course, 
not always practicable to issue the several volumes in 
their chronological order. 



THE STORY OF THE NATIONS. 

The "Stories" are printed in good readable type, and in 
handsome 12010 form. They are adequately illustrated and 
furnished with maps and indexes. Price per vol., cloth, $1.50 ; 
half morocco, gilt top, $1.75. 

The following are now ready : 



GREECE. Prof. Jas. A. Harrison. 
ROME. Arthur Oilman. 
THE JEWS. Prof. James K.Hosmer. 
CHALDEA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
GERMANY. S. Baring-Gould. 
NORWAY. Hjalmar H. Boyesen. 
SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and Susan Hale. 
HUNGARY. Prof. A. Vambery. 
CARTHAGE. Prof. Alfred J. Church. 
THE SARACENS. Arthur Gilman. 
THE MOORS IN SPAIN. Stanley 

Lane-Poole. 
THE NORMANS. Sarah Orne Jewett. 
PERSIA. S. G. W. Benjamin. 
ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. Geo. Raw- 

linsoHc 
ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. J. 

P. Mahaffy. 
ASSYRIA. Z. A. Rago2in. 
THE GOTHS. Henry Bradley. 
IRELAND. Hon. Emily Lawless. 
TURKEY. Stanley Lane-Poole. 
MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. 

Z. A. Ragozin. 
MEDI/EVAL FRANCE. Prof. Gus- 

tave Masson. 
HOLLAND. Prof. J. Thorold Rogers. 
MEXICO. Susan Hale. 
PHOENICIA. Geo. Rawlinson. 
THE HANSA TOWNS. Helen Zim- 

mern. 
EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. Alfred J. 

Church. 
THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. Stan- 
ley Lane-Pool. 
RUSSIA. W. R. Morfill. 
THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W.D. 

Morrison, 
SCOTLAND. John Mackintosh. 
SWITZERLAND. R. Stead and Mrs. 

A. Hug. 
PORTUGAL. H. Morse-Stephens. 
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. C. W. 

C. Oman. 
SICILY. E. A. Freeman. 
THE TUSCAN REPUBLICS. Bella 

Duffy. 
POLAND. W. R. Morfill. 
PARTHIA. Geo. Rawlinson. 



JAPAN. David Murray, 

THE CHRISTIAN RECOVERY OF 

SPAIN. H. E. Watts. 
AUSTRALASIA. Greville Tregar« 

then. 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. Geo. NL 

Theal. 
VENICE. AletheaWiel. 
THECRUSADES= T. S. Archer and 

C. L. Kingsford. 
VEDIC INDIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
BOHEMIA. C. E. Maurice. 
CANADA. J. G. Bourinot. 
THE BALKAN STATES. William 

Miller. 
BRITISH RULE IN INDIA. R. W. 

Frazer. 
MODERN FRANCE. Andre Le Bon. 
THE BUILDINGOF THE BRITISH 

EMPIRE. Alfred T. Story, Two 

vols. 
THE FRANKS. Lewis Sergeant. 
THE WEST INDIES. Amos K. 

Fiske. 
THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND IN 

THE 19TH CENTURY. Justin 

McCarthy, M.P. Two vols. 
AUSTRIA, THE HOME OF THE 

HAPSBURG DYNASTY,- FROM 

1282 TO THE PRESENT DAY. 

Sidney W^hitman. 
CHINA. Root. K. Douglass. 
MODERN SPAIN. Major Martin A. 

S. Hume. 
MODERN ITALY. Pietro Orsi. 

Other volumes in preparation are ; 

THE UNITED STATES, 1775 1897. 

Prof. A. C. McLaughlin. Two 

vols. 
BUDDHIST INDIA. Prof. T. W. 

Rhys-Davids. 
MOHAMMEDAN INDIA. Stanlej 

Lane-Poole. 
THE THIRTEEN COLONIES. 

Helen A. Smith. 
WALES AND CORNWALL. Ower- 

M. EdwardS: 



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Heroes of the Nations, 



EDITED BY 



EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., 

Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. 



A Series of biographical studies of the lives and work 
of a number of representative historical characters about 
whom have gathered the great traditions of the Nations 
to which they belonged, and who have been accepted, in 
many instances, as types of the several National ideals. 
With the life of each typical character will be presented 
a picture of the National conditions surrounding him 
during his career. 

The narratives are the work of writers who are recog- 
nized authorities on their several subjects, and, while 
thoroughly trustworthy as history, will present picturesque 
and dramatic " stories " of the Men and of the events con- 
nected with them. 

To the Life of each " Hero " will be given one duo- 
decimo volume, handsomely printed in large type, pro- 
vided with maps and adequately illustrated according to 
the special requirements of the several subjects. The 
volumes will be sold separately as follows : 

Large 12°, cloth extra $1 50 

Half morocco, uncut edges, gilt top . . . I 75 



HEROES OF THE NATIONS, 



A series of biographical studies of the lives and work of 
certain representative historical characters, about whom have 
gathered the great traditions of the Nations to which they 
belonged, and who have been accepted, in many instances, as 
types of the several National ideals. 

The volumes will be sold separately as follows : cloth extra, 
$1.50 ; half leather, uncut edges, gilt top, $1.75. 

I'he following are now ready : 



NELSON. By W. Clark Russell. 
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. By C. 

R. L. Fletcher. 
PERICLES. By Evelyn Abbott. 
THEODORIC THE GOTH. By 

Thomas Hodgkin. 
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. By. H. R. 

Fox-Bourne. 
JULIUS C^SAR. By W. Warde 

Fowler. 
WYCLIF. By Lewis Sergeant. 
NAPOLEON. By W. O'Connor Mor- 
ris. 
HENRY OF NAVARRE. By P. F. 

Willert. 
CICERO. By J. L. Strachan-David- 

son. 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By Noah 

Brooks. 
PRINCE HENRY (OF PORTUGAL) 

THE NAVIGATOR. By C. R. 

Beazley. 
JULIAN THE PHILOSOPHER. 

By Alice Gardner. 
LOUIS XIV. By Arthur Hassall. 
CHARLES XII. By R. Nisbet Bain. 



LORENZO DE' MEDICI. By Ed 

ward Armstrong. 

JEANNE D'ARC. By Mrs. Oliphant. 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. By 
■Washington Irving. 

ROBERT THE BRUCE. By Sir 
Herbert Maxwell. 

HANNIBAL. By W. O'Connor Mor- 
ris. 

ULYSSES S. GRANT. By V^^illiam 
Conant Church. 

ROBERT E. LEE. By Henry Alex- 
ander White. 

THE CID CAMPEADOR. By H. 
Butler Clarke. 

SALADIN. By Stanley Lane-Poole. 

BISMARCK. By J. W. Headlam. 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT. By 
Benjamin I. Wheeler. 

CHARLEMAGNE. By H. W. C. 
Davis. 

OLIVER CROMWELL. By Charles 
Firth. 

DANIEL OCONNELL. By Robert 
Dunlop. 

RICHELIEU. By James B. Perkins. 



Other volumes in preparation are : 



MOLTKE. By Spencer "Wilkinson. 

JUDAS MACCABEUS. By Israel 
Abrahams. 

HENRY V. By Charles L. Kings- 
ford. 

SOBIESKI. By F. A. Pollard. 

ALFRED THE TRUTHTELLER. 
By F. York-Powell. 



FREDERICK II. By A. L. Smith. 
MARLBOROUGH. By C. W. C 

Oman. 
RICHARD THE LION-HEARTED, 

By T. A. Archer. 
WILLIAM THE SILENT. By Rutl 

Putnam. 
JUSTINIAN. By Edward Jenks. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, Publishers, New York and London. 



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